Merz says 800,000 Syrians in Germany should return within three years

Just over a million people from Syria live in Germany – most of whom arrived during the 2015-2016 refugee wave – making them the largest Syrian diaspora group in the EU.

After the meeting, Merz told reporters that he hopes 80 percent of all Syrians in Germany will return "within the next three years."

Al-Sharaa's visit to Germany, his first since the overthrow of dictator Bashar al-Assad at the end of 2024, has been met with criticism from groups that point to his previous role as a leading jihadist and to the violence against minorities that has occasionally flared up since he took power.