In Europe, after the fall of the very authoritarian Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the fate of Syrian refugees is at the heart of debates: they represent the leading nationality of asylum seekers. Since Sunday December 8, around ten European countries have frozen the procedures for examining asylum applications.
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These European countries like Sweden, Norway, Italy and Denmark estimate that the majority of asylum seekers were fleeing the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Consequently, there is no longer any reason to leave the Syria. Among these countries, we also find Germany, which since the start of the war in 2011, has welcomed more than 700,000 refugees. There is also Austria, the United Kingdom, Greece and even Belgium. Very concretely, requests already filed in these countries will not be studied, at least as long as the situation does not evolve in Syria.
France for its part is more cautious. The Interior Ministry says it is working to suspend asylum applications from Syria. In reality, this measure falls under Ofpra, an independent body which deals with the protection of refugees. The latter says he is carefully monitoring the situation in Syria without taking the decision for the moment to suspend the examination of the requests. Currently, 700 files are being studied, while since 2011, 45,000 Syrians have fled to France. Nearly a quarter of them obtained this status more than 10 years ago and have often rebuilt their lives in France, without imagining returning to Syria. This is the case of Iyad Al Zarkan, who arrived in France in 2010, who applied for naturalization and cannot imagine leaving France.
For me, personally, I think it’s too late. I did a good job, I am the future groom of a French woman and I have already applied for naturalization. At my age, I know France better than Syria.
For Iyad Al Zarkan, despite the fall of Bashar al-Assad, there is no longer any question of him returning to Syria
Spain, for its part, goes completely against the grain of the majority of European countries and specifies that it will continue to examine the requests of the Syrians.
Conversely, some political parties want to go further, by sending back refugees who are on their soil. The German far-right AfD suggests that anyone celebrating Free Syria in Germany has no reason to flee and should return. The German conservatives of the CDU have outbid themselves and are proposing, for example, to charter planes and give a bonus of 1,000 euros to all those who return to Syria. In Copenhagen, far-right leader Morten Messerschmidt said he hoped Syrian refugees will soon be able to return home, to improve rape statistics in Denmark.
Austria to review Syrians granted asylum, with aim of possible repatriation
Austria is one of the latter countries. The government in Vienna announced earlier this week that it was suspending ongoing asylum procedures for Syrian citizens and also announced that it wanted to re-examine the cases of those who have obtained asylum over the past five years. This would concern 40,000 files. Enough to cause concern in Austria, where more than 95,000 Syrians currently live. All with the aim of a repatriation and expulsion program to Syria.
Originally from Homs, Abdulhkeem Alshater participated in several demonstrations against Bashar al-Assad in Syria. This before having to flee his country to reach Austria, where he obtained asylum in 2015, he tells our correspondent in Vienna, Isaure Hiace. Today, this 43-year-old man says he is shocked by the government’s announcement that it wants to suspend current asylum procedures and re-examine the cases of Syrians who have obtained asylum over the past five years: ” Many Syrians are well integrated here, they work here. I myself have two daughters who were born in Austria, they don’t even know how to read Arabic! And this announcement comes too soon, Syria is not yet safe, not yet stable. I find it inhumane to announce this. People today are desperate and angry. »
For Lukas Gahleitner-Gertz of the NGO asylkoordination, this announcement from the Austrian government is more political than realistic: “ If at some point we can say: the situation in Syria has stabilized, then there could be procedures for withdrawing the protection status. But we don’t know if this will actually happen. As long as there is no clarity on this subject, we cannot say that there is a real chance of seeing a status withdrawn. These announcements are therefore premature and mislead the population about the real situation.. »
Abdulhkeem Alshater says he will return to Syria when democracy is assured there.
The suspension of asylum requests by Vienna shocks Syrians and NGOs, who consider it “hasty”
A meeting of 27 interior ministers planned for Brussels
In fact, if the refugees have obtained the nationality of these States, things will be a little more complicated. Regardless, these proposals ultimately seem to go in the direction of the Syrian Prime Minister who is calling on his compatriots abroad to return home to allow the country to prosper.
If asylum and immigration remain national competences, the European Commission calls on States to coordinate their responses. Commission spokesperson Anouar El Anouni said he was convinced that “ most Syrians in the diaspora dream of returning home and that the decision will have to be made by each individual “.
This Thursday, a meeting of 27 interior ministers will take place in Brussels. Another will take place on December 16 with those of Foreign Affairs. Europe also says it is cooperating with the UN High Commission for Refugees to properly structure these voluntary returns.
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