Germany debates whether Syrian refugees can safely visit homeland without losing status
Several parties in the Bundestag are calling for Syrian refugees to be allowed to make exploratory trips to their home country.
"This would let people assess for themselves on the ground whether a permanent return is feasible," Sebastian Fiedler, the SPD's interior policy spokesman, told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Tuesday edition). "It would certainly also help address all questions surrounding people's involvement in Syria's reconstruction."
Filiz Polat, parliamentary manager for the Greens, also advocated for trial visits. "The federal government should enable these trips—regardless of residency status—and ensure that those affected face no disadvantages as a result," Polat told the FAZ.
The Left Party agreed. "Shortly after Assad's fall, I already demanded that 'go-and-see' visits be permitted for Syrians with protected status," said Clara Bünger, the Left Party's spokesperson on refugee policy. "Yet the federal government refuses to allow such trips, while at the same time, Merz has made the racist demand that 80 percent of Syrian refugees must return."
Refugees who travel to their country of origin risk losing their protected status in Germany. The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) reported that in 2025, 2,593 revocation reviews were initiated for Syrian nationals due to temporary home visits, with 708 more in the first quarter of this year. However, statistics do not record how many Syrians actually had their protection revoked following such visits.
Unlike its coalition partner, the SPD, the conservative CDU/CSU bloc views exploratory trips critically. "Anyone who is able to travel back and forth beyond modern communication options clearly is not in a situation of persecution," said Alexander Throm, the CDU/CSU's interior policy spokesman. "The loss of protected status is the logical consequence." Gottfried Curio, the AfD's interior policy spokesman, made a similar argument.
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