With the fall of the Assad regime many Syrian exiles in Germany say they want to return to their homeland once the situation there is stable. Now some in Germany fear what the loss of a large number of Syrians could mean for the economy.
In the days since the sudden end of Bashar al-Assad’s rule, debate has swirled in Germany about the future of the many Syrians who fled his dictatorship and now live here. After initial calls by some politicians for Syrians to be sent back, it is clear that many have a legal right to stay, in particular those who have become German citizens. The German government has rejected calls for any immediate repatriations, saying it will wait and see how the situation in Syria develops.
But with tens of thousands of Syrians who were displaced by Assad’s repressive regime expressing a wish to go back and help rebuild their country, another reality has dawned on a country now hosting nearly a million Syrian citizens: how will Germany manage without all those people who are employed in essential jobs?
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Syrians facing difficult decision
Around 236,000 Syrian nationals are currently working and paying tax in Germany. That number increases if you add those who also have German citizenship, who are not counted in the labor statistics as Syrian. Of these, nearly two-thirds are so-called essential workers, meaning the country could not function properly without them.
Not all of them have plans to leave Germany. Mohammad Al-Hakim, a Syrian doctor who has been working in Germany for more than six years, believes most want to stay and continue their work. "After the difficult journey I have taken to Germany, I cannot easily leave everything behind and simply return," he told InfoMigrants.
"My children have become used to this country and it has become their home as well. Of course I want to visit my country whenever I choose, but going back for good would be very difficult."
Dr Manaf, who has worked in a German hospital for around five years, agrees that returning to Syria is not an easy decision, but it is a question of supporting the country. "Syria needs the expertise of its people," he said.
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A lot to lose
But Germany, too, is in need of skilled workers. Yuliya Kosyakova, a researcher at Germany’s Institute for Employment Research (IAB), says the loss of Syrian workers could have "noticeable regional and sector-specific effects", especially in areas where there are already labor shortages.
The German Association of Senior Hospital Doctors has also expressed concern. "In rural regions, Syrian doctors are the backbone of hospital care. Without them, things will be tight," said the association’s president, Michael Weber. He told the Bild newspaper that he anticipates "a substantial proportion of the approximately 5,000 Syrian doctors in Germany will return to their homeland."
The German Federal Doctor's Association (Bundesärztekammer) stated that at the end of 2023, there were 5,758 Syrian doctors working in Germany, around 5,000 of them in German hospitals.
The chair of the doctors' union, Susanne Johna, said she feared a "significant burden on the already-strained medical care situation in Germany" if Syrian doctors were to leave, while the managing director of the nurses' union, Isabell Halletz, also told Bild that "a return of these skilled workers would be a severe blow to aged care." She added that Syrian workers were well-integrated and valued by patients.
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'We are not just numbers in the labor market'
A smaller survey of Syrian doctors working in Germany is likely to confirm that health administrators should be concerned. "Out of 1,238 Syrian doctors working in Germany today, [surveyed by the association] 941 responded with 'yes' to the question of thinking about returning to Syria after the recent developments," Faisal Shahada, the head of the Syrian Doctors and Pharmacists Association in Germany, told InfoMigrants.
But it is precisely the portrayal of Syrian skilled workers in Germany as statistics, rather than people who have become part of society, which was upsetting for many doctors, Shahada added.
"We are not just workers and numbers in the labor market. We are citizens who have lives that we built here with a lot of effort," he said. "This aspect was completely ignored by politicians and the German press."
Shahada told InfoMigrants that the proposal to force people to go back to Syria had also shocked many in the community and "was one of the reasons that prompted so many to think about returning."
"The most important reason for the return of Syrian doctors (...) first and foremost is love for their homeland, the call for its reconstruction, and the desire to contribute to supporting the collapsed health sector in Syria after the war."