Dentist faces deportation as Germany ramps up removal of Syrians

In March, Basel Gawish, a 31‑year‑old Syrian dentist discovered that the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) had rejected his asylum application and ordered him to leave Germany within 30 days.

After just two years in the country, Gawish speaks near‑perfect German, works as a trainee for an oral surgeon in Baden‑Württemberg and volunteers as a translator – for charities like the German Red Cross and also with the federal police.

“This is my country,” he told German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle. “I speak the language. I want to stay.”

Gawish’s case comes as Germany is in the process of ramping up efforts to block and deport refugees, and in particular those who have come from Syria.

Government officials have maintained that deportations to Syria are to be strictly limited to criminals and dangerous individuals. But increasingly, it looks like what comes next could be more widespread efforts to push back hundreds of thousands of people who have settled in Germany — whether through expanded “voluntary” return schemes or deportations.

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As was the case for so many others, Gawish faced severe obstacles and challenges in his journey to Germany. As an 18‑year‑old in Syria, he had been kidnapped and tortured before fleeing the country. He then moved precariously through multiple countries before arriving in Deutschland.

His story has been shared in more detail by the activist group Omas Gegen Rechts (Grannies against the right), alongside a petition launched on his behalf.

“Doctors are urgently needed,” notes petition initiator Nadja Glatt, who added that its “completely crazy” to deport a highly qualified professional from a country facing acute labour shortages.

The petition had already gathered more than 90,000 signatures at time of publication.

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Gawish is not alone

Gawish’s case is just one of many, and comes as part of a broader trend of Germany ramping up expulsions of Syrians and other refugees.

Another example is Yasin Alhamdo, a 20‑year‑old trainee industrial clerk who has lived in Germany since 2015. Much of his adolescence was spent in the German foster and care system. He learned the language, entered vocational training and began building a life of his own.

But when he tried to secure long‑term residence, the process stalled because of complex custody issues linked to his father – despite no wrongdoing on Alhamdo’s part. Now, just weeks before his final exam, he faces deportation.

“It would completely destroy my life,” he says.

His petition to remain in Germany, launched around a month ago, has already attracted more than 40,000 signatures.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (L) welcomes Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the Chancellery in Berlin. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP)

80 percent target

Recently, senior figures in the German government, including the chancellor himself, have suggested that up to 80 percent of Syrians currently living in Germany could return to their home country within three years.

That figure entered the debate at the end of March, when Chancellor Friedrich Merz spoke of a desired 80 percent return rate alongside Syria’s interim president Ahmed al‑Sharaa.

The remark triggered widespread criticism – and a bit of an awkward dispute when the chancellor’s representatives tried to say the figure came from al‑Sharaa but he publicly contradicted that account.

Regardless of where the figure came from, the implications of it being the government’s goal are enormous. Germany is currently home to around 930,000 to 950,000 Syrians. Eighty percent of that population would amount to 740,000 to 750,000 people leaving th country within the next three years.

Recently, an INSA poll commissioned by Bild newspaper found that 61 percent of respondents said they supported returning that many people to Syria, with the number rising sharply among older respondents.

Yet in the same survey, 78 percent across all groups said they did not believe such a mass return would happen, and only 15 percent considered the target realistic.  

Similarly, a YouGov poll from last December found that most Germans thought the country had seen too much immigration. But interestingly, in that same poll 61 percent of people were in favour of increasing the number of healthcare workers in Germany, even if that meant more immigration.

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Syrians in Germany

Reporting focused largely on numbers and percentages hides a simple truth: the Syrian population in Germany is not an abstract mass.

Around a third of Germany’s Syrian population (between 200,000 and 250,000 people) are children, many of whom have spent much of their lives in German schools, speak fluent German and would be aging into the labour market over the coming years.

And Germany already relies heavily on Syrians at work.

Some 320,000 are employed, including around 80,000 in shortage occupations such as healthcare, logistics and hospitality. Syrian doctors alone form the largest group of foreign doctors, with 5,745 working in hospitals by the end of 2024, according to reporting by ARD.

Ironically, experts suggests it is these well‑documented, well‑integrated workers who may be most exposed to stricter government policies.

Migration expert Marie Walter‑Franke of the German Council for Integration and Migration recently told Deutsche Welle that, “People who do everything right  who are registered, have a job and may even have children in school naturally leave a large administrative paper trail behind them.”

“Deporting people who are well‑integrated and easy to track down isn’t necessarily what you’d want to do, but it’s the easiest to implement,” she added.