The Arab League has paved the way for Syria’s ruler Assad to return to the world stage. A step that not only quarrels with the German Foreign Minister. A restart with Assad? Rather not.
Syria’s ruler Bashar al-Assad is accused of the most serious war crimes: use of poison gas against his own population, bombing of schools and hospitals. Nevertheless, he is now back on the diplomatic stage.
During her visit to Saudi Arabia last week, Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned against an “unconditional normalization” in dealings with Assad. You could see how she struggles with the fact that the Arab League is officially reinstating the Syrian dictator. If Assad were to be rewarded for the most serious human rights violations on a daily basis, that would be counterproductive, the Greens politician put it diplomatically.
fight against drug smuggling
Officially, it is not known if Syria’s return to the league is conditional. Compensation should, however, be expected.
One condition, for example, could be the containment of drug smuggling from Syria. The country has become a hub for the production and export of the synthetic drug Captagon. According to the Foreign Office, the Syrian regime is involved in the drug trade – and benefits from it. That is why the EU has just decided on a new package of sanctions on Syria.
The highly addictive amphetamine is frequently consumed in neighboring Arab countries. Jürgen Hardt, foreign policy spokesman for the Union faction in the Bundestag, does not believe that Syria’s re-admission to the Arab League will change the Captagon trade. “Assad is a first-rate drug dealer. That’s a huge problem for young people in the Arab world,” says Hardt.
What does this mean for Syrian refugees?
Another sticking point: Syria’s Arab neighbors, especially Lebanon, want the refugees to return to Syria. This could also be of interest for Germany. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled to Germany since the civil war began in 2011. They still make up the largest group of asylum seekers in this country.
But establish diplomatic relations with Assad to send refugees back? Hardt rejects that: “That would be a very rotten deal on people’s backs.” If Assad does not completely change course in his policy, it cannot be expected that the people in Syria would be safer than they are here. In other words, the CDU politician does not see the Syrians who have fled to Germany returning anytime soon.
Nils Schmid, foreign policy spokesman for the SPD parliamentary group, cannot imagine diplomatic relations with Syria or development aid for the country at the moment. As long as hundreds of people remain missing, the opposition is suppressed and Assad makes no move to bring about a political process to bring about social reconciliation, the reconstruction of Syria with Western financial support is unthinkable, said the SPD politician.
Left Party against Syria sanctions
The left faction sees it a little differently. Its chairman, Amira Mohammed Ali, calls for the EU sanctions against Syria to be ended: “Above all, they harm the population and cause great poverty in the country.” In addition, the sanctions did not lead to the Syrian ruler being overthrown, says Ali. For the good of the population, the federal government must find a diplomatic way with Assad, for better or for worse.
Lamya Kaddor is also concerned with the welfare of the Syrian population. She sits for the Greens in the Bundestag, her parents come from Syria. Assad destroyed the lives of many people, says Kaddor: “If I look at my relatives, they’ve aged thirty or forty years in the last twelve years of the war, and not just on the outside.” The war left very, very clear traces.
The Greens politician cannot imagine that the Syrian ruler will ever be completely rehabilitated. Half of the Syrian population had fled the country before the dictator. According to Kaddor, they also do not want to return for fear of Assad. The neighboring Arab countries may have a legitimate interest in bringing him back. “They say to themselves: We don’t know who will come after Assad,” says Kaddor. Then it is easier to negotiate with someone in the neighborhood who you already know.
A restart of German relations with Syria under Assad is currently not foreseeable, nor is there any improvement in the situation of Syrians. And that’s what the German-Syrian thinks it should be about above all else.