Ruqaia is a doctor in Schwerin; she came to Germany from Latakia in 2016. At Ruqaia's workplace, a clinic in Schwerin, there is a shortage of staff, and she suffers from the enormous workload. Her husband is also a doctor, but was in Syria longer than she was. To live together in Germany, he fought in vain for an appointment at the embassy for a long time. But then new rules came into force, and a new freedom of movement was established between Syria and Germany. Ruqaia's husband can easily book a flight to Germany. His plan is to apply directly to the clinic in Schwerin and relieve both his colleagues and his wife.
Ruqaia is relieved. She plans to become a mother in the next few years and dreams of a family life between Syria and Germany. It gives her strength to know her mother could stay in Germany for some time after the child's birth to support her.
Entry without fear
Since the new regulation, a trip between Germany and Syria means finding a flight, booking it, and driving to the airport. To enter at the border without fear of rejection, without time limits or worries about blocked accounts for visas.
Moving for a job is no problem. Circular labor migration is emerging in both directions, favored by the abolition of bureaucracy. Syria desperately needs skilled workers to boost reconstruction. Germany, on the other hand, cannot do without the Syrian workers.
To make this a win-win situation, bilateral programs are being established. Professionals trained in Germany offer training programs in Syria to share their experience. In addition, workers employed in Syria can visit Germany to gain professional experience while continuing to work in Syria.
The Employment Agency no longer processes applications for work permits and qualifications, but coordinates labour migration between Germany and Syria. For employers, there is a portal funded by the Federal Employment Agency where job seekers from Syria and Germany can register.
Both the authorities and the people breathe a sigh of relief, because bureaucracy is no longer an effort, unlike in the past. Without the various residence permits and their requirements for work, freedom of travel, and housing, the administration can focus on the essentials.
Um Majid, a grandma from Raqqa
Um Majid is suffering from leukemia. She was treated in Syria, but then it turned out that she needed a bone marrow transplant. Her family in Germany found a possible donor, but initial attempts to bring her to Germany for treatment were unsuccessful.
Thanks to a new cooperation between the Mujtahed Hospital in Damascus and the Charité in Berlin in the field of cancer treatment, um Majid was finally able to travel to Germany without a visa. The transplant was successful and um Majid is recovering in Berlin. The family does not have to fear financial difficulties because of the treatment. The program is funded by the Syrian-German Medical Association, Charité and BMZ.
Not only the patients, but also the medical staff can now travel between Syria and Germany. As part of the hospital cooperation, physicians come to Germany. Cancer patients in Syria can get appropriate therapy more easily, and Germany benefits from the young Syrian staff.
Because of the war years, many Syrian physicians have high-level skills and valuable knowledge in emergency medicine and disaster medicine. As part of the program, they convey this to German colleagues.
Um Majid and her family are now part of a patient network committed to expanding this health cooperation. They also want to make it possible for people from other countries to access free health care for people in Syria and Germany.
Fabian, author and partner of the Syrian artist Laila
Germany and Syria have become increasingly connected, especially since the long summer of migration in 2015. Syrians have become part of German society, have started families, work and study. In many families, German and Arabic are the first and second languages. Syrian culture shapes German streets: through restaurants, art exhibitions or their names on doorbell signs.
Fabian grew up in East Frisia and likes to write about his homeland. He knows that in his texts he romanticizes the North Sea, the fields and the mudflats – a depiction that people from his region like to read. Laila shows a different aesthetic in her works: mosaic, olive groves, warmer colors. Since he has been with her, he wants to learn more about Syria and combine his imagery with Laila's. As if on cue, a program of the Syrian-German umbrella organization of cultural institutions came along. Together with other cultural workers, Fabian spent a few months at the Academy of Fine Arts in Latakia.
From the networks he has established, he repeatedly invites Syrian artists and authors to Germany. Thanks to freedom of movement, they organize readings and exhibitions together in both countries without fearing bureaucratic delays or cancellations due to rejected visa applications.
Annenmaykantereit in Damascus
For Syrians in Syria, Germany is increasingly becoming a country of reference due to family relationships, financial ties, development projects and exchange programs. If you walk through Damascus or Raqqa, you can greet in German and get the answer in German. Bloggers travel through Syria, report on the situation, visit friends, discover new aspects of the country, and share information with a German audience on TikTok or YouTube.
The newly created freedom of movement also helps with interculturality. A Syrian-German identity is much easier to live, self-discovery and identity development is not a decision between two divergent paths, but can move fluidly between (sub-)cultures. Lina Shamamian sings for Berlin and Annenmaykantereit records gain popularity in Damascus.
Wael, student in Freiburg
Wael grew up in Germany without ever having been to Syria, and is equally German and Arabic-speaking. In the ninth grade, he decides to do an exchange year in Syria. Committed teachers from his school are establishing an exchange with a school in Masyaf. They have held German lessons there for a long time. With freedom of movement, ten students go on the journey every year.
Wael's best friend Anne also comes along. Wael's family awakened her enthusiasm for Arabic at the dinner table. Now she wants to learn Arabic properly. The suitcases are packed, and the school organizes the travel planning and the administrative steps. It's not much, because Wael and Anne don't have to carry or apply for any papers other than their IDs.
The two take some subjects together in German; Anne attends Arabic lessons sponsored by the Syrian Ministry of Education, and Wael has other school subjects in Arabic. During their exchange year, they visit friends from Germany. Together they go on a round trip through Syria. Her attachment to the country and its people grows. Mutual prejudices change over time into a deeper understanding of the respective contexts.
The political debate in Germany is relaxing
Based on the freedom of movement between Germany and Syria, even right-wing or conservative-oriented politicians can no longer score points through deportations and the curtailment of rights. Migration as a problem to be controlled has had its day as a political leitmotif.
Migration from and to Syria is no longer a political pawn, but a natural part of German-Syrian life. Populism and racism in Germany are losing momentum and surveys on the topic by the media or state statistical offices are losing relevance.
Lisa, political scientist in Berlin
Many citizens in Syria are committed to reconstruction. During her studies at HU Berlin, Lisa specialized in social movements and state transformation. After the fall of the Assad regime, she wanted to pass on her knowledge and organized a summer school for young Syrians in Berlin the following year, financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Syrian Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.
In the following years, the places filled quickly; applicants did not have to go through any visa procedures and could enter the country directly after being accepted. Lisa then decided to expand the project and open a branch in Syria in cooperation with the University of Aleppo.
The program will become an important pillar of Syria's political reconstruction process. It receives prizes, and finally the HU opens an institute that specializes in the interdisciplinary study of reconstruction processes. In addition to the Syrian experience, the historical German experience as well as other international examples play a role.
Remembering together, together against authoritarianism
Since Syria freed itself from its long-standing brutal dictatorship in 2024, civil society initiatives in Syria and Germany have been networking on many levels. The Syrian side is now also negotiating wages in German nursing. It's about fair pay and employees' flexibility to choose between Germany and Syria again and again.
In the field of remembrance culture, pioneering projects quickly emerged, such as an exhibition on the Syrian Sednaya prison in the former Stasi prison in Hohnschönhausen. There, the role of prisons in unjust states was a central topic, as was the connection between former Nazi elites and later the GDR and the authoritarian structures in Syria. Today, a network of associations, organizations, state institutions and universities is developing concepts for dealing with the crimes.
Freedom of movement alone is not enough to build democratic structures and a culture of remembrance. However, it facilitates personal exchange at eye level as well as joint work for the social utopia.