Germany, France, Austria, some Nordic countries suspend Syrian asylum decisions after Assad’s fall

BERLIN – Germany, France, Austria and several Nordic countries said on Dec 9 they would freeze all pending asylum requests from Syrians, a day after the ouster of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

While Berlin and other governments said they were watching the fast-moving developments in the war-ravaged nation, Vienna signalled it would soon deport refugees back to Syria.

Far-right politicians elsewhere made similar demands, including in Germany, home to Europe’s largest Syrian community, at a time when immigration has become a hot-button issue across the continent.

Dr Alice Weidel of the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany reacted with disdain to

Dec 8’s mass rallies by jubilant Syrians celebrating Dr Assad’s downfall.

“Anyone in Germany who celebrates ‘free Syria’ evidently no longer has any reason to flee,” she wrote on X. “They should return to Syria immediately.”

World leaders and Syrians abroad watched in disbelief at the weekend as Islamist-led rebels swept into Damascus, ending Dr Assad’s brutal rule while also sparking new uncertainty.

A German foreign ministry spokesman pointed out that “the fact that the Assad regime has been ended is unfortunately no guarantee of peaceful developments” in future.

Germany has taken in almost one million Syrians, with the bulk arriving in the period of 2015 to 2016 under former German chancellor Angela Merkel.

Germany’s 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”.

The German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees had imposed a freeze on decisions for ongoing asylum procedures “until the situation is clearer”.

She added that “concrete possibilities of return cannot yet be predicted and it would be unprofessional to speculate in such a volatile situation”.

Rights group Amnesty International slammed the freeze on asylum decisions, stressing that for now, “the human rights situation in the country is completely unclear”.

The French interior ministry said it too would put asylum requests from Syrians on hold.

‘Repatriation and deportation’

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”.

Austria’s Interior Minister Gerhard Karner added he had “instructed the ministry to prepare an orderly repatriation and deportation programme 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 analysing the new situation”.

Denmark, Sweden and Norway also said on Dec 9 they were suspending the examination of asylum applications from Syrian refugees.

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, wrote their leader Jimmie Akesson on X.

“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 Dr Assad’s fall will eventually allow “the safe return of Syrian refugees” to their country, but without announcing concrete measures.

‘Populist and irresponsible’

In Germany, the debate gained momentum as the country headed towards February elections.

The centre-right opposition Christian Democratic Union (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,” CDU legislator Thorsten Frei told Welt TV.

CDU MP Jens Spahn suggested that Berlin charter flights to Syria and offer €1,000 (S$1,400) to “anyone who wants to return”.

Members of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats criticised the debate as “populist and irresponsible”.

Green Party deputy Anton Hofreiter also said “it is completely unclear what will happen next in Syria” and deportation talk was “completely out of place”.

Many Syrians in Germany have watched the events in their home country with great joy but prefer to wait and see before deciding whether to return home.

“We want to go back to Syria,” said Mr Mahmoud Zaml, 25, who works in an Arabic pastry shop in Berlin, adding that he hopes to help “rebuild” his country.

“But we have to wait a bit now,” he told AFP. “We have to see what happens and if it is really 100 per cent safe, then we will go back to Syria.” AFP