Germany plans to deport ‘dangerous’ Syrian criminals

BERLIN: Interior ministers from Germany´s federal states said Thursday they plan to ease deportation rules to allow Syrians convicted of serious crimes to be returned to the war-torn country.

The move has been pushed by conservative and far-right lawmakers following a series of high-profile crimes involving migrants in recent years. "The will to deport criminals to Syria as well as Afghanistan is there," Joachim Grote, chairman of the conference of interior ministers and a member of Merkel´s Christian Democrats, told reporters after a meeting in Luebeck in northern Germany.

But Grote admitted implementing the policy would be tough as Germany has "no contact person in Syria". A further complication is that each German state will have to debate the issue before deportations can resume. Germany has put deportations to Syria on hold since the start of the conflict, which has killed 370,000 people.

Merkel, in power for 14 years, has been under pressure ever since 2015 when she decided not to close German borders to a mass influx of refugees and migrants. The move earned her much praise but also sparked an angry backlash that fuelled the rise of the anti-immigration and anti-Islam Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which has been vocal in calling for deportations.