While the Syrian leader has just been overthrown by a coalition of rebels, the debate regarding Syrian refugees in Europe resurfaced almost immediately. Several European countries announced Monday, December 9, that they were suspending the examination of asylum applications from Syrians. Austria went even further and announced “a program of repatriation and expulsion to Syria”.
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In a context of strong progress by far-right parties in recent elections on the continent, it did not take 48 hours for the debate around Syrian refugees who fled the dictatorship of Bashar el-Assad to take refuge in Europe returns to the table. And even though the transition in Syria is still underway and the country is plunged into the unknown and facing countless challenges, the German, Austrian, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian and Belgian governments announced on Monday the suspension of asylum requests from Syrian nationals. According to MEPs from the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, the dictatorship and civil war in Syria have caused some seven million people to flee the country, many of whom are in neighboring countries.
An EU country that hosts the largest Syrian diaspora, Germany has suspended decisions on ongoing asylum applications for Syrian exiles, the German Interior Minister announced on Monday, given “ current uncertainty “. The Federal Office for Immigration and Refugees has “ today decreed a freeze on decisions for asylum procedures currently still underway » Syrian exiles, Nancy Faeser said in a statement.
“Reassess the situation »
At the same time, other countries followed suit. In Denmark, the Danish Refugee Appeals Board “ decided to suspend the processing of files concerning people coming from Syria due to the very uncertain situation in the country after the fall of the Assad regime “, she wrote in a press release, specifying that the decision currently concerns 69 cases. She also “ decided to extend the departure deadline for those eligible for deportation to Syria », which concerns 50 cases.
Norway highlights the situation “ very unclear and unresolved » in the country to justify his decision. The suspension of the examination of files means that the UDI “ will not reject or grant asylum applications from Syrians who have applied for asylum in Norway, for the time being », Specifies the organization. Norway has received 1,933 asylum applications from Syrians since the start of the year.
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“ Given the situation, it is simply not possible to assess the grounds for protection at present “, declared for his part Carl Bexelius, head of legal affairs at the Swedish National Migration Office in a press release. The formal decision will be made on Tuesday.
France plans to follow its neighbors. The French Interior Ministry said on Monday: working on a suspension of ongoing asylum cases from Syria “. In 2023, more than 4,000 asylum requests from Syrian nationals were registered in France, according to the latest figures from the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (Ofpra) responsible for examining the requests.
Austria, where the far right has recently established itself on the political scene, goes further. In addition to suspending the examination of asylum applications, Austrian authorities announced that the cases of those who have already been granted asylum will also be re-examined and that family reunification is suspended. In addition, the government is considering “a program of repatriation and expulsion to Syria”. “ The political situation in Syria has fundamentally changed, with a sudden acceleration of events in recent days », Underlined Interior Minister Gerhard Karner, judging “ important to reassess the situation “. “ In this context, I instructed the ministry to prepare a repatriation and expulsion program to Syria “, he added. Around 7,300 files are affected by this decision among the approximately 100,000 Syrians living in Austria, one of the countries which has welcomed the most in Europe.
Faced with this wave of reactions, the UN calls for “ patience and vigilance » on the question of the return of refugees because the situation in Syria is far from being stabilized.
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