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Syrians in Germany

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Syrians in Germany
Syrer in Deutschland
Distribution of Syrian citizens in Germany (2021)
Total population
1,281,000 (2023)[1]
Regions with significant populations
Berlin, Frankfurt, Hanover, Munich, Stuttgart, Köln, Salzgitter, Dortmund
Languages
Arabic, Kurdish, Turkish, Neo-Aramaic, German
Religion
Majority: Sunni Islam
Minority: Twelver Shia, Alevism, Alawites, Sufism, Isma'ilism
Christianity (mainly Syriac Orthodox Church, minorities Eastern Catholic Churches, Oriental Orthodoxy)
Druze[2]

Syrians in Germany (Arabic: السوريون في ألمانيا, romanized: al-Sūrīyūn fī Almāniyā) refers to Syrian immigrants in Germany, or Germans with Syrian ancestry. The number of people with an immigration background from Syria, including those with German citizenship, was estimated at around 1,281,000 in 2023.[1] Additionally, the population with Syrian citizenship residing in Germany is 972,460 in 2023,[3] making it the second-largest group of foreign nationals living in the country.[4] Notably, Germany boasts by far the largest Syrian diaspora outside of the Middle East.[5]

The population consists mainly of refugees from the Syrian Civil War, who arrived during the 2015 European migrant crisis.[6] In 2018, Germany granted 72% of Syrian refugees protection for the right to work without any setbacks or restrictions.[7]

Significant Syrian communities exist in Berlin, especially in the district of Neukölln and in the Ruhr-Area.

Migration history

Pre-civil war migration

Even before the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Germany had a significant population of Syrian migrants, with religious and ethnic minorities such as Assyrians over-represented in the population. Many opponents of the regime in former Ba'athist Syria under Bashar Al Assad, especially Syrian Sunni Muslims and Palestinians have also sought refuge in Germany.

Syrian refugees arrive in Cologne (2015)

Migration during the civil war

However, the overwhelming majority of Syrians who have arrived in Germany migrated to the country after the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War in 2011.

During the European migrant crisis of 2014-2015, hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees of the Syrian Civil War entered Germany to seek refugee status. The European migrant crisis was eased on September 4, 2015, by Chancellor Werner Faymann of Austria and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany. They announced that migrants would be allowed to cross the border from Hungary into Austria and onward to Germany. On the morning of September 5, 2015, buses with migrants began crossing the Austro-Hungarian border.[8][9]

Germany's number of asylum applicants, mostly consisting of Syrians, peaked at 890,000 in 2015, however, the trend began to reverse. In 2018 for instance, only 185,000 Syrians applied for asylum in Germany, although Syrians still continue to be the far largest group of Asylum seekers since 2013.

Most Syrians have been granted subsidiary protection, which makes them a permanent resident with the right to work and eligible for German citizenship after 5 years of residency.[10] In 2023, they were by far the biggest group of foreign nationals receiving German citizenship.[11]

Fall of the regime

After the Fall of Damascus on 7 December 2024 and Bashar al-Assad fleeing to Moscow, politicians campaigning for Germany´s 2025 election, asked for the 973,905 Syrians in Germany to return to Syria,[12] while others feared that the sunni islamist HTS rebels, in charge after the fall of the regime, may not be willing to honor fundamental rights like freedom of religion and warned of hasty returns. The processing of new applications for asylum for Syrians was halted by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees.[13]

Demographics

Sonnenallee in Neukölln: The district of Berlin hosts a large community of Syrians and other Arab Levantines

A large proportion of Syrians have settled in large West German cities, particularly in the Ruhr area and Berlin, where there was already a large Arab-Levantine community, consisting mainly of Lebanese and Palestinian migrants who arrived in the 1980s. However, there is also a sizeable Syrian community in eastern Germany, particularly in the largest cities such as Leipzig and Dresden, where they are the largest non-European immigrant group.[14]

Number of Syrians in larger cities
# City People
1. Berlin 39,813
2. Bremen 17,435
3. Hamburg 16,725
4. Essen 13,076
5. Bonn 9,428
6. Duisburg 9,323
7. Leipzig 9,059
8. Bochum 8,375
9. Cologne 8,074
10. Dortmund 7,791

Integration

Although most Syrians automatically receive the right to work under German law, many German politicians and journalists have criticised the relatively high level of benefit dependency among Syrian migrants. In 2023, after most had been in Germany for 8 years, 55% of Syrians were dependent on benefits, compared to 5.3% of their German counterparts.[15][16]

The relatively high crime rate among Syrians,[17] especially among young Syrian men, has also been the subject of political debate. In June 2024, after an 18-year-old Syrian allegedly killed a 20-year-old man in the town of Bad Oeynhausen who had just returned from a school graduation ceremony, many politicians in Germany called for deportations to Syria, especially of those involved in criminal activities. Discussing the murder, the Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia Hendrik Wüst called for deportations of foreign nationals, "regardless of where they are from". Several days later German chancellor Olaf Scholz also called for deportations to Syria, although Germany has no official embassy in the country since the outbreak of the civil war. [18]

Notable people (extract)

Lamya Kaddor, member of German parliament (Bundestag)
Mahmoud Dahoud, footballer

Associations

Kurds

See also: Kurds in Germany
See also: Kurds in Syria

A large proportion of the Syrians who have arrived in Germany are also of Kurdish origin, seeking protection from Islamist groups in Syria.

Turkmen

See also: Turks in Germany

Established in Germany, the "Suriye Türkmen Kültür ve Yardımlaşma Derneği - Avrupa", or "STKYDA", ("Syrian Turkmen Culture and Solidarity Association - Europe") was the first Syrian Turkmen association to be launched in Europe.[19] It was established in order to help the growing Syrian Turkmen community who arrived in the country since the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War. The association includes Syrian Turkmen youth activists from many different Syrian cities and who are now living across Western Europe.[20]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Bevölkerung in Privathaushalten 2023 nach Migrationshintergrund". Federal Statistical Office of Germany. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  2. ^ "Drusentum - Die geheime Religion (2020)". Deutschlandfunk. Archived from the original on 7 November 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  3. ^ "Rohdatenauszählung ausländische Bevölkerung". Statistisches Bundesamt (in German). Archived from the original on 28 May 2023. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  4. ^ "Ausländische Bevölkerung nach Geschlecht und ausgewählten Staatsangehörigkeiten". Statistisches Bundesamt (in German). Archived from the original on 14 December 2022. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  5. ^ "Syrian refugees by country 2022". Statista. Archived from the original on 25 July 2023. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  6. ^ Matthias Meissner (30 March 2015). "Kriegsflüchtlinge aus Syrien - Linke und Gruene warnen vor Abschottung". Tagesspiegel. Archived from the original on 11 March 2022. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  7. ^ "Five Years Later, One Million Refugees Are Thriving in Germany". Center For Global Development. Archived from the original on 23 September 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  8. ^ Rick Lyman; Anemona Hartocollis & Alison Smale (4 September 2015). "Migrants Cross Austria Border From Hungary". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 7 September 2015. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
  9. ^ "The Latest: Austria, Germany to accept bused migrants". msn.com. Archived from the original on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  10. ^ "Urteil: Schutzstatus für Syrer auf der Kippe". ZDFheute (in German). 24 July 2024. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  11. ^ Achterberg, Beatrice (28 May 2024). "Einbürgerungswelle in Deutschland: 200 000 Migranten, Syrer an der Spitze". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in Swiss High German). ISSN 0376-6829. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  12. ^ Jonathan Zinn: "Bundestagswahl 2025: Punkten AfD und Union in Syrien-Frage?" derwesten.de 11 December 2024, retrieved 15 December 2024
  13. ^ "Rück­kehr und Rück­füh­rung nach Syrien?" lto.de 9 December 2024, retrieved 12 December 2024
  14. ^ Bildung, Bundeszentrale für politische (24 April 2024). "Bevölkerung mit Migrationshintergrund". bpb.de (in German). Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  15. ^ Bau, Matthias (31 August 2023). "Bürgergeld: Grafik zu Bezügen von Geflüchteten ist irreführend". correctiv.org (in German). Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  16. ^ "Bürgergeld: „500.000 Syrer, die Bürgergeld beziehen, suchen aktuell Beschäftigung" - WELT". DIE WELT (in German). 8 September 2023. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  17. ^ Schattauer, Goran (8 May 2023). "Sexualdelikte, Mord, Raub: Die Wahrheit über kriminelle Zuwanderer". FOCUS. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  18. ^ "Germany's Scholz breaks bad on migration". POLITICO. 4 July 2024. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  19. ^ Avrupa'da Suriyeli Türkmenler İlk Dernek Kurdular Suriye Türkmen kültür ve yardımlaşma Derneği- Avrupa STKYDA, Suriye Türkmenleri, archived from the original on 12 November 2020, retrieved 10 November 2020
  20. ^ SYRISCH TURKMENICHER KULTURVEREIN E.V. EUROPA, Suriye Türkmenleri, archived from the original on 23 September 2023, retrieved 10 November 2020
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