Countries around Europe pause Syrian asylum applications

Several European countries on Monday suspended the processing of asylum applications from Syria, after Islamist-led rebels took control of Damascus and President Assad left the country.

Germany imposed a freeze on decisions for ongoing procedures, rapidly followed by Denmark, Sweden and Norway, before France announced it was considering doing likewise.

Austria, meanwhile, went further by outlining its intentions to deport refugees back to Syria, while a Greek government spokesperson expressed hope that a peaceful transition would allow refugees to return home safely.

Germany has admitted almost a million Syrians, Europe's biggest diaspora from the ravaged country, with the bulk arriving in 2015-16 under ex-chancellor Angela Merkel. On Monday, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser imposed a freeze on decisions for asylum procedures that are still ongoing. 

"Many refugees who have found protection in Germany now finally have hope of returning to their Syrian homeland and rebuilding their country," said Faeser, but she cautioned that "the situation in Syria is currently very unclear…  Therefore, concrete possibilities of return cannot yet be predicted at the moment and it would be unprofessional to speculate about them in such a volatile situation." 

Immigration debates

Immigration has been a hot-button topic in much of Europe – and Germany, which has elections in February, has suffered a number of bloody attacks blamed on Islamists. After Germany-based Syrians gathered to celebrate Assad's downfall, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) suggested they could now go home.

"Anyone in Germany who celebrates 'free Syria' evidently no longer has any reason to flee," posted the AfD's Alice Weidel. "They should return to Syria immediately."

The center-right opposition CDU suggested that rejected Syrian asylum-seekers should now lose so-called subsidiary protection.

"If the reason for protection no longer applies, then refugees will have to return to their home country," said CDU legislator Thorsten Frei, while his fellow CDU MP Jens Spahn suggested that Berlin charter flights to Syria and offer 1,000 euros to "anyone who wants to return to Syria."

Members of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats (SPD) criticized the debate as inappropriate.

"To talk about a freeze of admission of Syrian refugees at this point... is populist and irresponsible," said the vice-chair of the SPD parliamentary group Dirk Wiese.

Green party deputy Anton Hofreiter also said "it is completely unclear what will happen next in Syria… Musings about changing our migration policy after the fall of Assad and taking tougher action against Syrian refugees are completely out of place."

Austrian ministry suspends Syrian asylum applications, prepares 'deportation'

Germany's southern neighbor Austria went further, saying it was suspending all Syrian asylum applications and wanted to deport refugees back to Damascus.

Some 100,000 Syrians live in Austria, one of the biggest diaspora populations in Europe, with thousands waiting for asylum applications to be approved.

Conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer on Monday instructed the interior ministry "to suspend all ongoing Syrian asylum applications and to review all asylum grants," the ministry said. "From now on, open (asylum) proceedings of Syrian citizens will be stopped."

Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said he has "instructed the ministry to prepare an orderly repatriation and deportation programme to Syria," adding that family reunification – allowing Syrians in Austria to bring relatives to the country – will also be suspended.

Around 7,300 Syrians whose asylum applications are in the first stage of consideration "are affected" by the suspension. Since 2015, some 87,000 Syrians have been given asylum.

Austria's anti-migration far right topped national elections in September but have been unable to find partners to govern, leaving the runner-up conservatives trying to form a new government.

Nordic countries freeze, France may follow

France also announced intentions to freeze ongoing asylum requests, the interior ministry said Monday, saying the decision "should be taken in the coming hours."

Immigration is also a sensitive political issue in France, where the far right's record performance in July's snap elections has left parliament sharply divided.

France registered more than 4,000 asylum requests from Syrian nationals in 2023, according to the OFPRA refugee authority that processes claims. It is also an important transit country for Syrians attempting to reach Britain: the UK Home Office says that between January and September, almost 2,900 Syrians arrived in the UK in small boats.

Denmark, Sweden and Norway also said Monday they were suspending the examination of asylum applications.

The leader of the far-right Sweden Democrats, a coalition partner in the government, said residence permits for Syrian refugees should now be "reviewed."

"Destructive Islamist forces are behind the change of power" in Syria, posted Sweden Democrats leader Jimmie Akesson. "I see that groups are happy about this development here in Sweden. You should see it as a good opportunity to go home." 

In Greece, a government spokesman voiced hope that Syria's transition will eventually allow "the safe return of Syrian refugees" to their country, but without announcing concrete measures.

Many of the hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees who have settled in the European Union since fleeing the civil war that erupted in 2011, have passed through Greece on their way to other countries.

More than 15,000 Syrians have work permits in Greece, according to the migration ministry.

Government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said a transition "should open the return path in total safety back to their homes for Syrian refugees" which should "mark the end of the flux of refugees from this country."