Germany Invites Syrian President—for Deportation Logistics, Not War Crimes
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced he's invited Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to Germany to discuss 'very concretely' deporting Syrian citizens with criminal records, while also aiming to 'stabilise the country.' This diplomatic outreach to a regime accused of widespread atrocities against its own people, which sparked the very refugee crisis Germany once responded to, raises eyebrows.
It appears accountability for war crimes is secondary to convenient 'returns' when political winds shift. Remember when Western leaders vowed Assad's regime had forfeited all legitimacy? Now, a country that welcomed hundreds of thousands of Syrians is suddenly keen to confer legitimacy on a figure synonymous with barrel bombs and torture chambers—all to offload a few 'criminals.' The irony is
almost as thick as the historical amnesia required to frame this as 'stabilisation.' One might wonder, how quickly 'cooperation' turns into tacit acceptance of a brutal dictatorship, especially when domestic political pressures demand a 'tough on immigration' stance?