If the outbreak of the civil war in Syria was the main trigger for the refugee crisis suffered EU in 2015, whose aftershocks still continue to drive the rise of the radical right and the hardening of immigration policy across the continent, community leaders now hope that the fall of the dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad translates into the rapid return of Syrians exiled in Europe to their country of origin.
Less than 24 hours after the collapse of the regime, several Member States – including Germany, Austria, Sweden, Finland, Denmark or France—have rushed to announce that they freeze asylum requests from Syrian citizens. They do so without even waiting to know if the transition will be peaceful or if, on the contrary, a new period of chaos begins.
Faced with the haste of the Governments, the Ursula von der Leyen Commission warns that “at the moment the conditions do not exist for safe, voluntary and dignified returns to Syria”according to the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Anouar El Anouni. It is the same line that the UN High Commissioner for Refugees maintains.
“We are convinced that the majority of Syrians in the diaspora have been dreaming of returning to their country. And now the current situation is one of great hope, but also great uncertainty. It will be up to each person or each family to decide what they want to do,” the spokesperson added.
In her initial reaction to the fall of Al Assad, Von der Leyen said that “this “Historical change in the region offers opportunities but is not without risks”. Her spokesperson clarified this Monday that the opportunity to which the president refers is for a democratic State to emerge in Syria, while the risk is that a new tyranny led by the group will be imposed. HTS, included in the EU blacklist of terrorist organizations.
Despite all these risks, the German Office for Migration and Refugees has been the first to announce the temporary freezing of the 47,000 asylum requests of Syrian citizens pending resolution. There are currently almost a million Syrians residing in Germany. “Many refugees who have found protection in Germany have renewed hope of returning to their Syrian homeland“said the Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeserwhich however admits that the situation in the country “is currently very confusing.”
In Austria, where 100,000 Syrians live, Christian Democrat Chancellor Karl Nehammer has instructed the Interior Minister to “suspend all ongoing asylum procedures.” “We will support all Syrians who have found refuge in Austria and want to return to their homeland. It is also necessary to reassess the security situation in Syria so that deportations are possible again in the future“Nehammer claimed.
France is also working on suspending asylum requests from Syrians and plans to make a decision in the next few hours. For his part, the spokesman for the Greek Government, Pavlos Marinakis, told journalists that the fall of Al Assad “should open the safe way back to their homes for Syrian refugees” and “mark the end of the flow of refugees from this country”. Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Belgium have put forward similar arguments to freeze Syrian applications.
In fact, the EU had already started explore the possibility of restarting dialogue with the Al Assad regime —broken since 2011— in order to facilitate the return of Syrian refugees.
In July, the foreign ministers of Italy, Austria, Slovenia, Slovakia, Croatia, Greece, the Czech Republic and Cyprus asked Josep Borrell a review of policy towards Damascus. The ultimate goal was to “achieve the conditions for the safe, voluntary and dignified return of Syrian refugees.”
At the penultimate European Council in June, the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloniand the Austrian Chancellor demanded to include Syria on the list of “safe countries” to be able to return migrants. In the last days of his mandate, Borrell raised the possibility of creating a “special envoy” to Syria to address these issues..
The fall of Al Assad has only accelerated and intensified the pressure for the return of Syrian refugees hosted in Europe. An issue that will appear on the agenda of the meeting of EU Interior Ministers taking place this Thursday in Brussels.
“The fall of the criminal Assad regime marks a historic moment for the Syrian peoplewho has endured immense suffering and demonstrated extraordinary resilience in her search for dignity, freedom and justice,” celebrated the new head of EU diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, in a statement released this Monday on behalf of the 27.
“It is essential to preserve the territorial integrity of Syria and respect its independence, its sovereignty, as well as state institutions, and reject all forms of extremism“said Borrell’s successor, who faces her first big test just a week after taking office.
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