The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) is increasingly withdrawing protection status from Syrians, while simultaneously observing a rise in voluntary returns.
According to reports, the Syrian civil war ended in late 2024. Previously, the BAMF’s standard review process rarely resulted in the revocation of refugee status. However, a significant shift is now evident. While the monthly average of applications being reviewed in the current year currently stands around last year’s level at 1,404, the rate of revoking status has increased markedly. In 2025, the BAMF rejected less than 4 percent of cases, but this year the rate rose to 17 percent, reaching a record high of over 30 percent in May alone.
The BAMF explained that this increase is partly due to intensified scrutiny of criminal offenders, which makes the revocation of status more straightforward. Nevertheless, given the total population of 500,000 Syrians holding protection status, the office does not anticipate this rise in revocations will make a significant impact on the overall numbers for the time being.
The federal government is placing greater hope on voluntary departures, and corresponding numbers are increasing, although they remain relatively low. In 2025, 3,681 Syrians returned under federal funding; during the first five months of the current year, this figure was 2,325, with 652 recorded in May alone.
However, the Federal Ministry of the Interior does not consider these numbers adequate. At the Interior Ministerial Conference in mid-June, Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) announced, based on information from “Spiegel”, that return incentives for adults could be raised up to 1,000 euros, though specific details have yet to be finalized.
