Leading trade unionists and politicians are calling for an end to the debate about the return of Syrian workers in Germany to their homeland. A “lasting perspective” is needed for the Syrians who are “building a decent life for themselves and their families”, said Verdi union chief Frank Werneke to the Bild am Sonntag.
Werneke said, “Whether in care, hospitals, postal and package services, or in the dispatch trade, or in many other professions, people from Syria who have fled are keeping this country running.”
“We need skilled and workforce from abroad” said IG Metall union chair Christiane Benner to the Bild am Sonntag. “Politicians travel the world, sign agreements on skilled workers, and recruit people to come and work for us because we need them.” It is “absurd” to now demand the return of well-trained and integrated Syrians, Benner argued.
Syrian doctors are “important for the care of patients in hospitals”, said Michael Weber, president of the Association of Chief Hospital Physicians. “Especially in rural areas, they are indispensable.” It’s either “they are with us or we must restrict the care on the countryside”, the doctor warned.
Also, BSW chair Sahra Wagenknecht fears that “a massive return of Syrian doctors would partly collapse the care system here”.
Dennis Radtke, head of the worker’s wing in the CDU, criticized the proposal by former Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) to pay a 1,000-euro return premium for Syrians: “Both from humanitarian and economic perspectives, we should not hastily distribute flight tickets. The employment rate of Syrian men is above average. Many responses I got from the economy were quite irritating.