Syrians in Germany: Individuals’ Reasons for Returning Or Remaining Ahmad Al Ajlan

16 Return FMR 62 www.fmreview.org/return October 2019 Syrians in Germany: individuals’ reasons for returning or remaining Ahmad Al Ajlan Syrian refugees in Europe are not one homogenous group but are individuals and families from different parts of Syria who have different experiences in exile and different expectations around return. Research undertaken with Syrian refugees than seven when they arrived – seems to in Germany suggests that those refugees be the most difficult. These children have who were employed in Syria – particularly integrated fully into the host education by the government – are more likely to system and cannot read or write Arabic. return than others.1 This is particularly so In some cases, refugee children can only for those who are older than 40, because they speak the dialect of their parents (and not tend to have more difficulty than younger the standard Arabic language used in Syrian refugees in learning the language of their schools) while others cannot even speak their host society and finding a job to match parents’ dialect. In reality, many of them their level of education. Furthermore, those identify more as citizens of the countries who are able to return to their former jobs where they now live, not of the country can more easily resume their lives in their where their parents came from. It will be home countries. This group of refugees difficult for them to return to Syrian society also feels more uprooted from their culture and its education system. If categorised and yearns to regain their former lives. simplistically as Syrians due to the citizenship However, it may be harder for other Syrian of their parents, they are likely on return to refugee groups to return voluntarily and with Syria to struggle with their studies and feel dignity. For instance, according to the Federal alienated. This will be in contravention of Office for Migration and Refugees in Germany the Convention on the Rights of the Child, almost three quarters (73.8%, 532,799 especially General Comment 6: “States shall persons) of asylum seekers in Germany in not return a child to a country where there are 2016 – including Syrians – are younger than substantial grounds for believing that there is 30. Most of them have received education a real risk of irreparable harm to the child.”2 and training in Germany and have learned Syrian refugees in Europe are not one German; many are earning good salaries and homogenous community, and applying feel integrated into German society. Yet none one undifferentiated return policy to them of their qualifications will be of use to them all will be harmful to many, especially in Syria. This group of refugees is therefore children and less educated younger unlikely to want to return. Many of these refugees. Considerations of people’s life young Syrian refugees who are now earning stage and circumstances in exile need to be in Germany would, by Syrian standards, better understood and taken into account have been considered to be poorly educated, in order to ensure appropriate, voluntary, and would have had very difficult lives even sustainable solutions to their displacement. before the war, often doing hard physical Ahmad Al Ajlan [email protected] work in construction or agriculture. After Researcher, Institute of Interdisciplinary enjoying safety, social and health insurance, Research on Conflict and Violence, Bielefeld and – most importantly – dignity in Germany, University www.uni-bielefeld.de/ikg they are unlikely to choose to return to Syria. 1. See Al Ajlan A (2019) ‘Older Refugees in Germany: What Are In terms of voluntary return with dignity, the Reasons for the Difficulties in Language-learning?’, Journal of the situation of refugee children – especially Refugee Studies bit.ly/JRS-AlAjlan-2019 those born in Germany or who were younger 2. Convention on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No 6 (2005) www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx .

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