“Wir schaffen das!” or “We are able to do it!” mentioned former German Chancellor Angela Merkel 9 years in the past, when she proclaimed that Germany and Europe had the capability to grant asylum to individuals looking for refuge.
Again then, her phrases provided hope to tons of of hundreds of Syrian individuals who have been fleeing the nation’s now-13-year-long civil struggle, seeking refuge in Europe.
However at this time, Merkel’s open-door coverage for asylum seekers, particularly for individuals from Syria, has modified in Europe.
Simply days after the autumn of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, nations throughout the continent – together with Germany, Austria, Belgium, Greece, Italy, Sweden, Denmark and the UK – have all introduced plans to pause asylum purposes for Syrian individuals looking for asylum. This consists of each new purposes and people which might be nonetheless being processed.
On Monday, Filippo Grandi, the pinnacle of the United Nations Excessive Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), referred to as for “endurance and vigilance”. In a press release, he mentioned the company is “hoping that developments on the bottom will evolve in a constructive method, permitting voluntary, secure and sustainable returns to lastly happen – with refugees capable of make knowledgeable choices.”
So what’s the rationale behind European nations freezing asylum purposes from Syria?
What number of Syrians have claimed asylum in Europe?
For the reason that onset of the Syrian civil struggle in 2011, the United Nations stories, no less than 7.4 million Syrians stay internally displaced, with roughly 4.9 million looking for refuge in neighbouring nations. An extra 1.3 million have resettled elsewhere, principally in Europe.
In keeping with a midyear assessment launched by the European Union Company for Asylum (EUAA) in September, of a complete 513,000 asylum purposes obtained by EU nations in 2024, “Syrians continued to lodge by far probably the most purposes within the first half of the 12 months”. Their asylum claims characterize 14 p.c of the entire variety of purposes – an increase of seven share factors in comparison with the identical interval in 2023.
The EUAA report additionally highlighted that round 101,000 Syrian asylum purposes are nonetheless pending in EU nations.
In the meantime within the UK, in keeping with the nation’s Residence Workplace, greater than 27,000 individuals from Syria have claimed asylum for the reason that onset of the civil struggle, with 90 p.c of claims being permitted. Nevertheless, 6,502 Syrian asylum claims are nonetheless pending as of September 2024.
What does ‘pausing’ asylum claims imply?
Following the autumn of al-Assad, some EU nations have introduced a “pause” within the processing of asylum purposes whereas they become familiar with the state of affairs inside Syria, they are saying.
The 27-member bloc’s international leaders will meet later this month to debate a joint response.
Within the UK, which left the EU following the 2016 Brexit referendum, Residence Secretary Yvette Cooper famous that the state of affairs in Syria is transferring very quick. “And that’s the reason, like Germany, like France, and like different nations, we’ve got paused asylum choices on circumstances from Syria whereas the Residence Workplace evaluations and displays the present state of affairs,” she mentioned.
Bram Frouws, director of Geneva-based assume tank Combined Migration Centre, informed Al Jazeera that pausing asylum claims “principally means Syrians who’re nonetheless in an asylum course of and awaiting a choice will likely be in limbo for for much longer”.
“Realizing there are lengthy asylum backlogs in lots of [European] nations, this provides to the uncertainty for a lot of. It additionally signifies that those that arrive any more, whereas nonetheless attainable to file an asylum declare, must wait lengthy for a choice,” he added.
For now, there is no such thing as a change in standing for many who have already been granted asylum in European nations.
Which EU nations are doing what?
Germany
At the moment in Germany, which has accepted greater than one million Syrian refugees, the freeze on the processing of asylum purposes for Syrian individuals will have an effect on 47,770 purposes which might be already within the system. The nation has not introduced any plans to start deportations of Syrians.
On Monday, after Germany’s Federal Workplace for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) introduced the choice to pause the method, the chief of Bavaria’s conservative Christian Social Union get together, Markus Soder, mentioned it was “the fitting determination”.
Austria
In Austria, Inside Minister Gerhard Karner mentioned that household reunification visa schemes for Syrians – each new purposes and people nonetheless being processed – would even be halted.
Austria has additionally introduced plans to deport Syrian migrants. “I’ve instructed the ministry to arrange an orderly return and deportation programme to Syria,” Karner informed Austrian media, though he didn’t specify which individuals, exactly, could be despatched again. About 100,000 Syrians dwell in Austria, in keeping with information from the Austrian authorities.
Denmark
Denmark, which has mentioned it considers Syria to be “secure” since 2019, has been looking for methods to discourage Syrian asylum seekers for a while. Following the autumn of the regime, it additionally mentioned it’s suspending 69 asylum circumstances presently being processed. It added that it’s now additionally planning to begin deporting Syrians, no matter whether or not they have obtained asylum or not.
Norway, Italy and Belgium
Norway, Italy and Belgium have additionally all made bulletins that they are going to droop new claims and pause current claims nonetheless beneath course of.
Frouws famous that circumstances have massively modified with al-Assad’s downfall. His regime was the primary motive to supply safety to Syrians who had fled their nation.
“We’ve seen celebrations by Syrians overseas, many expressing an intention to return, and we’ve got truly seen some small-scale return actions from neighbouring Lebanon and Turkey. In that sense, it’s comprehensible nations are re-assessing the state of affairs,” Frouws mentioned.
Nevertheless, the choices being taken to droop asylum claims are “untimely” he mentioned. “It’s manner too early to see how the state of affairs will evolve … the best way European states tumble over one another to all droop processing asylum claims, and even begin talks about returns of those that have already obtained safety is embarrassing,” Frouws mentioned.
He mentioned the choices pointed to a willpower by European nations to return Syrian refugees to Syria.
“It exhibits a sure hypocrisy,” he mentioned. “Solely days in the past, some states thought it might be OK to return individuals to Syria whereas Assad’s regime was nonetheless there. And now that he’s gone, in addition they assume it’s okay to return individuals, which appears to point that regardless of the circumstances, the purpose is returns.”
Does Europe think about Syria ‘secure’, then?
In terms of claiming asylum, the EUAA determines nations are secure if they don’t generate “safety wants for his or her individuals” or are nations wherein “asylum seekers are protected and should not at risk”.
Nevertheless, the EU presently maintains that Syria will not be secure for individuals to return to.
“In the interim, we preserve, according to the UNHCR, the situations should not met for secure, voluntary, dignified returns to Syria,” a European Fee spokesperson informed reporters in Brussels on Monday.
The spokesperson added, nevertheless, that “most Syrians within the diaspora have been dreaming of going again to their nation” and whether or not or to not return must be the choice of every household and particular person.
UK Overseas Secretary David Lammy mentioned lots is determined by what occurs subsequent within the nation and a return of individuals to Syria may additionally “shortly turn out to be a move again out and probably enhance the numbers utilizing harmful unlawful migration routes to continental Europe and the UK”.
“At the moment of turbulence and alter, nations ought to keep away from plunging Syrian refugees and folks looking for asylum into conditions of additional uncertainty and precarity,” Eve Geddie, Europe director at Amnesty Worldwide, informed Al Jazeera.
“In step with worldwide legislation and requirements on refugee safety, asylum claims should be processed promptly and successfully,” she mentioned. “European nations should additionally proceed to contemplate the person circumstances of every asylum seeker on a case-by-case foundation. They need to instantly reverse choices to droop Syrians’ asylum purposes and reject calls to return Syrians or prohibit household reunification.”
What do Syrian refugees assume Europe must be doing now?
Ahmad Helmi, who hails from Damascus and presently resides within the Netherlands, informed Al Jazeera that he was disillusioned by some EU nations’ determination to droop asylum claims.
“Their first response ought to have been, ‘How can we help a democratic transition in Syria and set up peace within the nation?’ quite than announce stopping asylum claims,” mentioned Helmi, who has been granted asylum within the Netherlands.
Helmi turned one of many many victims of “enforced disappearance” in Syria and now runs Ta’afi, an initiative to help and defend victims of enforced disappearance in Syria.
“It has some hypocrisy in it, you understand, as a result of Europe and the whole West have for the previous few a long time been lecturing the remainder of the world about democracy, prosperity and the rule of legislation,” he mentioned. “And now once we introduced down a regime in our nation. We had a number of supporters and several other companions from world wide, after all. Europe solely thinks about stopping migration and asylum as an alternative of looking for democracy.”
“I would like the worldwide group to presently concentrate on having contingencies to help Syria primarily based on an precise and significant transitional justice course of,” Helmi mentioned. “And not using a transitional justice course of, peace won’t be sustainable.”
