By Sarah Marsh and Andreas Rinke

BERLIN (Reuters) -Syrians no longer have grounds for asylum in Germany now the civil war in their country is over, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said, as his conservatives seek to fend off a surging far-right ahead of a slew of state elections next year.

Germany was the EU country that took in the largest number of refugees from the 14-year-long Syrian civil war due to former Chancellor Angela Merkel’s open-door policy, with around one million Syrians living in the country today.

But Merz and several fellow conservatives in his coalition cabinet say the situation has changed following the fall last December of Bashar al-Assad’s government and end of the war – despite the fact Syria remains in a deep humanitarian crisis and forcible returns would face

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