In response to the decision by several European governments to suspend asylum applications from Syrians following the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad, the director of Amnesty International’s European Institutions Office, Eve Geddie said:
“The situation in Syria is extremely volatile. Five decades of brutality and repression cannot be reversed overnight. But European governments wasted no time in stopping Syrians’ asylum requests.
“In this time of turbulence and change, countries should avoid pushing Syrian refugees and asylum seekers into situations of increased uncertainty and precarity. Instead, the safety and agency of asylum seekers must be placed at the heart of decision-making and not sacrificed to the rabid anti-refugee politics currently plaguing Europe.
“In accordance with international law and refugee protection standards, asylum applications must be processed quickly and efficiently. European countries must also continue to consider the individual situation of each asylum seeker on a case-by-case basis. They must immediately reverse decisions to suspend Syrians’ asylum applications and reject calls for Syrians to return or restrict family reunification.”
Background
In a statement broadcast live on Syrian national television on December 8, 2024, opposition forces claimed to have ended the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and freed political prisoners. International amnesty called opposition forces to free themselves from the violence of the past.
Soon after the ouster of President Assad, European countries including Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom United, announced that they would review their asylum practices in light of these changes. developmentsprimarily by considering or enacting a suspension of pending Syrian asylum applications.
To date, credible information on the security situation in Syria is scarce, and it remains unclear which armed groups control the various towns across the border, nor how they will govern the territory they have seized. . Reported attacks in Syria by Israel, the United States and Turkey, as well as fighting involving armed groups, risk further endangering civilians.