Germany warns Assad supporters involved in atrocities in Syria against trying to flee there

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s foreign minister is warning anyone involved in atrocities for the ousted Syrian government against seeking refuge in her country, saying they would face “the full force of the law.”

Germany has been a major destination for Syrian refugees over the past decade, and several hundred thousand Syrian nationals live there. In rulings since 2021, former Syrian secret police officers already have been convicted in Germany for overseeing or facilitating the abuse of detainees.

“To any of (former President Bashar) Assad’s torturers who might be considering fleeing to Germany now, I can only say clearly: We will bring all the regime’s henchmen to account for their terrible crimes with the full force of the law,” Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told Sunday’s edition of the Bild am Sonntag newspaper.

Baerbock called for international security authorities and intelligence services to work closely together.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said Germany is “extremely vigilant” and pointed to border checks that the country already has put in place on its frontiers as it tries to reduce irregular migration.

She told Bild am Sonntag that “no one who participated in atrocities is safe from prosecution here.” She said the convictions already handed down show that Germany pursues such crimes rigorously and should act as a deterrent against people involved in them going there.

More broadly, German officials have stressed that many well-integrated arrivals of recent years will be welcome to stay after the removal of Assad. That was followed by some talk of Syrians going home, which Chancellor Olaf Scholz acknowledged in a video released Friday “deeply unsettled” them.

“Anyone who is working here, who is well integrated, is and remains welcome in Germany,” he said. “That goes without saying.”

“Some of the refugees hope they can soon return to their homeland. We will support that as soon as the situation allows,” he added. But “only the coming days, weeks and months will show what direction Syria takes after Assad.”