Syrian asylum seekers left in limbo as countries close applications
Following the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad, several European countries, including Britain, have suspended processing of asylum applications for Syrians.
Austria’s caretaker government has halted all asylum claims by Syrians and said it plans to send or deport people back to their homeland, arguing that the situation in the country has fundamentally changed. .
Germany (home to one million Syrians), the United Kingdom, France and Greece have all said they will pause asylum decisions for the time being.
This move has left many in the Syrian diaspora confused, After the fall of the Assad regime after 50 years of brutal rule,
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, a conservative who is hard-line on immigration, said in a post on Twitter that the government would support “all Syrians who have sought asylum in Austria and wish to return to their home country”.
He added that “the security situation in Syria should also be reevaluated to make deportations possible again in the future”.
In a statement, Austria’s interior ministry said, “The political situation in Syria has changed fundamentally and, above all, rapidly” in recent days.
About 95,000 Syrians live in Austria, many of whom arrived during the migrant crisis of 2015 and 2016. He has boosted support for the far right and conservatives in Austria,
Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees has put a hold on all pending applications from Syrian asylum seekers.
Officials say that the political situation in Syria is so uncertain that it is not possible to reach any proper decision about whether the country is safe or not.
There are currently 47,270 Syrians in Germany waiting for answers to their asylum applications. People who have already been granted asylum will not be affected.
Germany has the largest Syrian migrant population outside the Middle East, with approximately one million Syrians living in Germany. About 700,000 are classified as refugees.
British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has confirmed that the UK has “paused asylum decisions on Syrian cases while the Home Office reviews and monitors the current situation”.
Cooper lamented that the situation in the country is “moving very quickly after the fall of the Assad regime” and said that some people are already returning to Syria.
According to Reuters news agency, France is working on a policy similar to the one put forward by Germany, with a decision on it expected in the next few hours.
Meanwhile, thousands of Syrians exiled in Lebanon and Jordan are returning home. But the flow on the Lebanese border has been in both directions.
A BBC correspondent there said that increasing numbers of Syrians were trying to enter Lebanon, prompting Lebanese military reinforcements. He says some people fear an increase in lawlessness or crime at home, although he also says he has received assurances that this will not happen.
Lebanon hosts more than one million Syrian refugees but rules for their entry into the country are being tightened.