Ralf Stegner, a Social Democratic politician, has voiced sharp criticism of the CDU’s demands for the rapid repatriation of Syrian refugees. “I find that quite shameful” he said in an interview with the “Spiegel” video format “Spitzengespräch” on Thursday. “It’s not about getting the refugees back as quickly as possible, but about looking at what’s happening in the region.”
Stegner was responding to statements made by CDU politician Jens Spahn, who had called for charter flights and a €1,000 start-up grant for Syrian refugees willing to return. These demands were strongly rejected by SPD and Green Party politicians.
“You can try as hard as you like to take the wind out of the AfD’s sails with such rhetoric, but it won’t work” Stegner said. “Waiting just a day and then starting to make inner-politically motivated, election-tactical considerations, I find absolutely off the mark.”
Even if the case were to arise where many Syrians would like to return to their homeland, we currently don’t know what the new powers in Syria would do, Stegner said. Instead, he asked what diplomatic efforts could be made. “This question seems to me more sensible than drawing hasty conclusions” he said.
Last week, the Assad regime, which had ruled Syria for more than half a century, was overthrown by the Islamist HTS militia. Since the beginning of the civil war in 2011, nearly a million people have sought shelter in Germany.