The German Interior Ministry is considering a proposal to raise the voluntary return bonus for Syrian refugees to €8,000 per person, as part of government-backed voluntary repatriation programmes, in the biggest increase since the start of the return programmes.
According to a report published by the German magazine FOCUS, the proposal aims to ease the long-term financial burden on the country and accelerate the pace of voluntary departures after the increase in the number of applicants for return from the end of 2024.
The proposal comes after months of official calls for increased financial incentives to encourage more Syrians to leave voluntarily, at a time when official data showed that about 10,000 Syrians have returned from Germany since the fall of the Assad regime at the end of 2024.
The head of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), Hans-Echard Sommer, called for an increase in the value of financial incentives, saying the current amounts, which are usually €1,000 for an adult and €500 for a non-adult, are "not attractive enough".
According to the report, the German Interior Ministry is currently considering two options: maintaining the current individual support mechanism, or adopting fixed amounts of money for all returnees, in order to facilitate and speed up the process.
Questioning the Usefulness of Financial Incentives
The report, which was widely published and circulated in German media and online platforms, sparked a wave of controversy and mixed comments, with many readers questioning the usefulness of the proposed financial incentives to encourage Syrians to return voluntarily to their country.
Many commentators argued that providing money to returnees would not necessarily guarantee that they would not return to Germany after a short period of time, arguing that this policy could turn into a "temporary incentive" without actually addressing the migration file.
Some have called for tighter deportation procedures and stronger border controls rather than allocating public funds to return programmes.
One commentator said that the German authorities "instead of enforcing the laws and returning Syrians through legal means, want to reward them with 8,000 euros," considering that such policies "can only happen in Germany."
Other commentators criticized the allocation of public funds for voluntary repatriation at a time when German families, pensioners and municipalities are facing increasing economic pressures, questioning how these expenditures can be justified with taxpayer money, given the rising cost of living and declining services in some areas.
Supporters of voluntary repatriation programs, in contrast, have defended the policy, arguing that it may be less costly to the state than the costs of long-term stay, social assistance, and complex deportation procedures, which in some cases take years.
German states reject refugees
German radio "SR" reported that more than 700 Syrians are currently residing in the state of Saarland after their asylum applications were rejected by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees.
According to the radio, a large number of them have filed appeals before the administrative court in the state, while most of those affected have filed lawsuits with the administrative court in the city of Sarlouis, which has rejected 4 out of every 5 cases since the beginning of this year.
The radio added that the province's interior ministry has not yet ruled out the possibility of deporting them directly to Syria in the future.
6000 Syrians Applied for Supported in 2025
Data from the German Interior Ministry indicates that around 6,000 Syrians have applied for subsidized return in 2025, while the total number of voluntary departures – whether through official programmes or independently – is approaching 10,000 from the end of 2024 to spring 2026.
The ministry linked this rise to political changes in Syria after the fall of the former regime, and the subsequent shifts in the assessment of "return safety."
According to Focus Online, there are currently more than 900,000 Syrians living in Germany without German passports, including more than 500,000 who have temporary residence permits based on subsidiary protection or refugee status.