Overview
- The Interior Ministry said the man was handed to authorities in Damascus on Tuesday after serving a sentence in North Rhine-Westphalia for aggravated robbery, bodily harm, and extortion.
- Another convicted offender was deported to Afghanistan the same day, which the ministry described as the second such removal in a week.
- Berlin says arrangements with authorities in Damascus and Kabul now allow regular deportations of "criminals and dangerous individuals."
- Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said society has a legitimate interest in ensuring criminals leave Germany.
- Human rights groups warn that returns to Syria and Afghanistan could expose deportees to abuse and instability, as roughly a million Syrians reside in Germany.