The EU and the US also want to end sanctions against Syria. Germany also plans to deport Islamist threats there. Hans-Jakob Schindler of the international research organization Counter Extremism Project urges caution and warns that we should first observe whether interim President al-Sharaa actually implements his moderate course. "This is a very significant vote of confidence in a person in Syria – Mr. al-Sharaa, who announces he will do something that, however, does not correspond to the ideological orientation of his own people, which has been expressed and repeated for years."

The Berlin-based think tank "Counter Extremism Project" (CEP) also reports on the case in a recent policy paper on the situation of detainees in north-east Syria. According to the paper, the man had been married to a German woman who has since returned to Germany and been convicted according to Islamic rites. Analyst Sofia Koller, one of the authors of the paper, told SWR: "The fact that a second German apparently died in Kurdish captivity not only shows the poor prison conditions on the ground, but also the extensive inaction of German authorities." For example, Mohammad A.'s family was apparently only informed of his death a year later. The first death in prison in north-east Syria had already become known in 2020 thanks to a report in the Bild newspaper.

The senior director of the Counter Extremism Project, Hans-Jakob Schindler, cautions that the opening of the banking system runs the risk of becoming “entangled with terrorism financing as there are still multiple terrorist groups operating in Syria apart from ISIS.”

“It will be difficult to ensure that funds are not flowing to these individuals if sanctions are relieved without conditionality,” he said. 

However, the results of a study by terrorism researcher Sofia Koller of the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) suggest that many of those affected have been trying to return to Germany for years. Lydia G. is also said to have had a change of heart; she wants to return to Germany. Whether and when a trial against the IS returnee will begin is not yet known.