What would it mean for Germany if Syrian immigrants returned to their country now that the war is over? And how do former refugees feel about the pressure being put on them?
00:00Germany without doctors from Syria? By now, hard to imagine.
00:05About 7,000 physicians from Syria now work in Germany.
00:09They help keep the healthcare system running.
00:12I treat over 1,000 surgical patients here every year.
00:16If half of these doctors return to Syria,
00:18Germany's healthcare system will suffer significantly, without question.
00:24Many of those doctors are torn.
00:26They're badly needed both in their new home and their old one.
00:29We all want to rebuild our country.
00:31We must all participate and cooperate with each other.
00:36And now, as German politicians debate whether refugees from Syria should go back,
00:41the doctors are asking themselves a painful question.
00:44Are we still welcome here?
00:46We meet two doctors who live in different cities in Germany,
00:50Cuxhaven at the North Sea coast and the capital Berlin.
00:53One of them is Ammar Djabur.
00:55We visited him in Cuxhaven.
00:57In 2013, he fled Syria.
00:59He had joined the protests against former President Bashar al-Assad.
01:04We just stood there with signs saying that all we wanted was a little democracy and freedom.
01:10It didn't even take ten minutes before we were followed.
01:15And they just arrested me.
01:22Because of his story and qualifications, Ammar was able to get a visa for Germany quickly.
01:27Together with his family, he's built a new life here and become a respected eye doctor.
01:32My connection to my work is excellent.
01:36The same goes for my patients.
01:38But when I take two weeks off, I really miss work.
01:41I like being around people.
01:43But lately I've been feeling very unwelcome in this country.
01:47What bothers him is the recurring debate about migration, generalizing and lacking nuance in his view.
01:54At the moment it feels like every week or every two or three weeks you hear comments targeting migrants.
02:01Even as a migrant who has a German passport, you feel like a second-class German.
02:06Recently German Chancellor Friedrich Merz added to this unease.
02:12He declared that since the war was over, Syrians could now return home.
02:16Drawing criticism even from within his own conservative party.
02:20The civil war in Syria is over.
02:23Syria needs all its strength and above all Syrians to rebuild.
02:27And that's why there will certainly be many who now leave the country voluntarily.
02:33So far, the government is also thinking about returning Syrians who have committed crimes or are seen as having difficulties integrating.
02:43Ammar is already a German citizen, so he wouldn't be affected by any deportation decisions.
02:49But would he return voluntarily?
02:51In October, Ammar visited Damascus for a medical conference and saw the situation in Syria firsthand.
02:57Large areas without water, electricity or hospitals.
03:01This is the street where we used to live.
03:04There are cities that have been completely destroyed.
03:07They are no longer habitable.
03:09And that's what makes a voluntary return to Syria impossible at this stage.
03:14Basel al-Sayed works as an oral surgeon in Berlin.
03:17He moved to Germany back in 2003.
03:20And after the outbreak of the civil war, he never returned.
03:23He's also bothered by statements by the German Chancellor.
03:26Mr. Merz is trying to get a few more votes.
03:31But he's making another mistake because this atmosphere of hatred, this right-wing extremism, is rising again.
03:38He goes from mistake to mistake.
03:41Basel al-Sayed is also the vice chair of the Association of German-Syrian Aid Organizations.
03:47He distinguishes between two groups of Syrians now affected by the current debate over returning home.
03:53The group that's affected, the new refugees here, are a little afraid.
03:59Because they have nothing to go back to.
04:02They left all their possessions behind in order to find a way for themselves and their families here in Germany.
04:12I, or the other people who have established something here, might like to go back to Syria.
04:17But we have other fears.
04:21Doctors like Ammar and Basel fill vital gaps in Germany's healthcare system.
04:26Syrians make up the largest group of foreign doctors here.
04:29What would happen if they really decided to return to Syria?
04:33This could have very serious negative consequences locally and in small towns and rural areas.
04:44But we mustn't just focus on doctors.
04:49Many Syrians work in nursing or healthcare professions, or in areas that are part of critical infrastructure.
04:58Ammar is not ready to return permanently just yet, though he's working on ways to help his country.
05:05We're organizing a second conference and a humanitarian mission in southern Syria to operate on more than a hundred patients free of charge, funded by donations here in Germany.
05:17What both doctors hope for in Germany is a constructive fair debate on migration, so that they and people like them can once again feel they truly belong.
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