Germany warns 'Assad's executioners' against hiding on its soil

Both the German Foreign Minister and the Interior Minister have warned Assad's executioners and supporters against fleeing to their country, vowing to bring them to justice with the full force of the law that awaits them here.

"To Assad's executioners who should now consider fleeing to Germany, I can only say clearly: We will hold all regime members accountable for their heinous crimes to the fullest extent of the law," Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock of the Green Party told the German newspaper Tagesschau.

For her part, Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) said during a debate in the Bundestag that border controls are in place to find the people in question. The security authorities are on high alert.

Faeser referred to the security authorities' checks at all borders. "We are very vigilant. If followers of the terrorist Assad regime try to flee to Germany, they should know that it is difficult for any other country to prosecute their crimes as harshly as Germany. This should deter people from making such an attempt," she told the newspaper.

She recalled that the Higher Regional Court in Koblenz issued the world's first ruling on state torture in Syria in 2022, sentencing a former Syrian intelligence officer to life in prison for crimes against humanity.

In July, Syrian war criminals suspected of involvement in the violent suppression of a demonstration were arrested in Germany. "Those who participated in atrocities are not immune from prosecution here," stressed Wieser.

On the other hand, many Syrians living in Europe after the fall of the Assad regime want to return and help with reconstruction.

For them, the Greens' spokeswoman in the European Parliament, Hannah Neumann, has called for exceptions to the asylum regulations. Neumann told the Funke newspapers group Many of them were willing to help with reconstruction on site, but they face obstacles due to asylum rules.

Flexible exemptions are now essential to enable Syrians to support the formation of a democratic government and local reconstruction in their homeland without risking their refugee status in Germany or another EU country. Without these exemptions, in a worst-case scenario, those affected risk being unable to return to their families in Europe, the Middle East expert stressed.

By Fares Al-Rifai