Several European countries, including Germany, France, Austria and several Nordic countries, said on Monday, December 9, that they would freeze all pending asylum requests from Syrians, a day after former president Bashar al-Assad was ousted.
World leaders and Syrians abroad watched in disbelief over the weekend as Islamist-led rebels swept into Damascus, ending Assad's brutal rule while also sparking new uncertainty. While Berlin and other governments said they were watching the fast-moving developments in the war-ravaged nation, Vienna signaled it would soon deport refugees back to Syria.
France is working on a possible suspension of asylum requests from Syrians, the interior ministry told Le Monde. The decision "should be taken in the coming hours," the ministry said
France registered more than 4,000 asylum requests from Syrian nationals in 2023, according to the OFPRA refugee authority that processes claims.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said many Syrian refugees "now finally have hope of returning to their Syrian homeland" but cautioned that "the situation in Syria is currently very unclear."
"In view of this unclear situation," she said, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees had imposed a freeze on decisions for asylum procedures that are still ongoing "until the situation is clearer."
Germany has taken in almost one million Syrians, with the bulk arriving in 2015-16 under ex-chancellor Angela Merkel.
In Austria, where about 100,000 Syrians live, conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer instructed the interior ministry "to suspend all ongoing Syrian asylum applications and to review all asylum grants."
Interior Minister Gerhard Karner added he had "instructed the ministry to prepare an orderly repatriation and deportation program to Syria."
"The political situation in Syria has changed fundamentally and, above all, rapidly in recent days," the ministry said, adding it is "currently monitoring and analyzing the new situation."
Greek government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis told journalists that the fall of Assad "should open the return path in total safety back to their homes for Syrian refugees," he said. That should "mark the end of the flux of refugees from this country," Marinakis said.
More than 15,000 Syrians have work permits in Greece, according to the migration ministry.
The Swedish Migration Agency said it would pause decisions on Syrian asylum requests and deportations: "Given the situation, it is simply not possible to assess the grounds for protection at this time," Carl Bexelius, the agency's head of legal affairs, said in a statement.
The agency said that it would formally announce the decision on Tuesday, and that no rejection of asylum requests or deportation decisions would be enforced during the suspension. Similarly, no decision on residence permits would be made.
Sweden took in the second-highest number of Syrian refugees in the European Union in 2015-2016 behind Germany, and the highest number per capita.
The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) said it had "decided to put asylum applications from Syria on hold until further notice." "The reason for this is the recent major events and changes in Syria. However, the situation in the country is still very unclear," the agency said in a statement.
The Danish Refugee Appeals Board said it was putting the 69 cases regarding Syrian asylum requests it was handling on hold, citing "the very uncertain situation." In mid-2020, Denmark became the first European Union country to re-examine hundreds of Syrian refugee cases on the grounds that "the current situation in Damascus is no longer such as to justify a residence permit or the extension of a residence permit." But the country has not made any involuntary deportations to Syria.