Why is Europe pausing Syrian asylum claims after al-Assad’s fall?
Al Jazeera
Some European countries are freezing asylum applications for people from Syria in the wake of the fall of its regime.
“Wir schaffen das!” or “We can do it!” said former German Chancellor Angela Merkel nine years ago, when she proclaimed that Germany and Europe had the capacity to grant asylum to people seeking refuge.
Back then, her words offered hope to hundreds of thousands of Syrian people who were fleeing the country’s now-13-year-long civil war, in search of refuge in Europe.
But today, Merkel’s open-door policy for asylum seekers, especially for people from Syria, has changed in Europe.
Just days after the fall of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, countries across the continent – including Germany, Austria, Belgium, Greece, Italy, Sweden, Denmark and the United Kingdom – have all announced plans to pause asylum applications for Syrian people seeking asylum. This includes both new applications and those that are still being processed.
On Monday, Filippo Grandi, the head of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), called for “patience and vigilance”. In a statement, he said the agency is “hoping that developments on the ground will evolve in a positive manner, allowing voluntary, safe and sustainable returns to finally occur – with refugees able to make informed decisions.”
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