Syrians who have recently arrived in Germany can no longer expect to be granted protection automatically. This is the ruling of the Cologne Administrative Court.
It states: ‘Not every Syrian is entitled to asylum protection in Germany.’ In the case of a man from north-eastern Syria, the judges justified this by stating that persecution by the Assad regime had ceased and that the plaintiff was not at risk of persecution by the transitional government. The ruling is not yet legally binding. It also has no effect on refugees who already have a residence permit.
In Cologne, a refugee from the Hasaka Governorate in north-eastern Syria had filed a lawsuit. His asylum application from 2023 had been rejected in April this year. The Federal Office for the Recognition of Foreign Refugees (BAMF) threatened him with deportation. According to the court, the area is under the control of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES). ‘He is not in danger of being accidentally injured or killed as an uninvolved civilian in the Hasaka Governorate as a result of combat operations or other forms of arbitrary violence,’ the judges wrote.
While Syrian refugees in Germany automatically received at least subsidiary protection status during the Assad dictatorship, this has changed since the regime change. Initially, the BAMF suspended all decisions in December 2024 because the situation was too unclear. A ruling by the Administrative Court in Karlsruhe in May this year ensured that applications from refugees would once again be decided there.
The Cologne court also assumes that the man’s minimum subsistence level in Syria is guaranteed. The plaintiff’s parents, three siblings and wife still live in Syria. He could live with his family free of charge. In addition, the economic situation in Syria has improved. In view of rising wages and falling prices, the economic outlook in Syria is rather good. According to the court, he could also secure his livelihood with return assistance if he left voluntarily.
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