Syrians have become a ‘scapegoat’ in Germany, says Syrian journalist

We spoke to Syrian journalist and pro-democracy activist Rami Jarrah, who spent years reporting on the violence in Syria, working under a pseudonym for his own protection.

Matt Frei:  To hear the kind of news that we heard today of those mass graves must be incredibly painful for the community here as well.

Rami Jarrah: Yes. You know, as these numbers surfaced, 150,000, what you’d expect the natural reaction would be – surprise. But I hate to say it, I’m not surprised. In Syria, in contrast to the numbers of people – documented numbers of people that have been detained and missing – the people that came out of those prisons are a very small number. This was being reported whether in Homs or in Hama or Damascus. At Sednaya prison, we expected much larger numbers of people coming out of those prisons. So where were those people? Every single Syrian, I think, is affected by this in one way or another. I myself today, I was, just before coming here, I was at what was supposed to be a funeral procession but because it’s being done so far away, of a friend who lost someone, a brother, 11 years ago, who was detained and went missing, and they just found out, as someone got those documents, that the person was killed.

Matt Frei: And do you think that the new authorities taking shape in Syria are going to be in a position to deliver the kind of justice that will satisfy the victims’ families?

Rami Jarrah: I mean, we’ve been asked, what if the judicial system is dissolved. There was no judicial system in Syria, it was really just for show. And so it’s really going to be something that has to be done from scratch. It’s going to require a lot of help from the international community, civil society groups. And that’s where the concern is, because right now, civil society groups are outside the country. They haven’t been invited into the country. Jolani has gone out of his way to reassure the minorities and invite, let’s say, refugees to come back to the country. But he hasn’t opened that invitation to the wider civil society and basically the opposition.

Matt Frei: I was struck by how quickly the German government, Olaf Scholz said, all asylum, new asylum claims will be frozen, I think 74,000 or so. And of course, the other parties, the AfD that we talked about earlier, but also the CDU are coming up with their own ideas. Do you think there’s going to be growing pressure on Syrians that have been here for ten years like yourself to return?

Rami Jarrah: Definitely.

Matt Frei: Definitely?

Rami Jarrah: Yes, because I mean, Germany is no exception to every other country, where you’re seeing in the West, this rise of far-right sentiment, negative sentiment towards refugees. And Syrians have become a scapegoat and in Germany, I think it’s amplified by the fact that you have a million that came here, 700,000 of those that have some form of asylum, whether that be political or humanitarian. And security concerns, there are legitimate security concerns.

Matt Frei: Are you feeling that pressure yourself?

Rami Jarrah: I can’t say there’s anything that’s started by now. But there is the sentiment. You feel the sentiment. And you see the Alternative for Deutschland party really trying to..

Matt Frei: Setting the tone to some extent aren’t they.

Rami Jarrah: Definitely. So basically, we’re hearing sentiment and I know this isn’t a popular thing to say, but I’ve done some reading and in the work up to World War Two, this was the sort of thing we saw towards Jews, but it’s being done to Syrians now. And there’s such a large number here. The community is worried. The idea that they should just pack up and go back home, it’s a bit of a childish and ridiculous request.

Matt Frei: Because there have been so many Germans who would refute the fact that there was any kind of history, dark history repeating itself at the moment, but certainly everyone is watching very closely.