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Will Europe send Syrians back? – Channel 4 News

Will Europe send Syrians back? – Channel 4 News

December 10, 2024

Governments across Europe are beginning to question whether Syrians can be sent home – just days after the fall of the Assad regime.

Syrian refugees arrive in Germany / ShutterstockSyrian refugees arrive in Germany / Shutterstock

Governments across Europe are beginning to question whether Syrians could be sent home just days after the fall of the Assad regime.

Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Britain are among the European countries that have already “paused” Syrian asylum applications.

This morning, the Austrian Chancellor not only announced a suspension of asylum procedures for Syrian refugees in Austria, but also offered to “support anyone who wants to return to their home country.” Austria is home to approximately 95,000 Syrian nationals out of a population of over nine million.

The UN has warned European governments not to act too quickly as the situation on the ground in Syria remains unstable. The British Foreign Office describes the security situation in Syria as “unpredictable”.

“The humanitarian situation is disastrous. The economy has collapsed,” warned the UN special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, during a press conference this morning.

Since the outbreak of the civil war in 2011, millions of Syrians have fled abroad. Most of these – an estimated 5.5 million – are in neighboring countries, including Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. More than a million people live in Europe, of which 850,000 live in Germany.

Before the sudden and dramatic collapse of the Assad regime this week, Syrians were the largest group of asylum seekers entering the EU at more than 10,000 per month.

The EU had begun to consider whether part of Syria could be declared safe in view of the eventual return of Syrians there. But this would have meant reaching an agreement with President Assad. His regime has been under EU sanctions since May 2011.

In October this year, a group of member states, including Austria, Italy and the Czech Republic, initiated a discussion within the EU on whether Syria could be reclassified from no-go. EU leaders then decided to park it, concluding that there was “a need to create conditions for the safe, voluntary and dignified return of Syrian refugees.”

But under pressure to reduce migration numbers, several European countries have now jumped on the possibility that Syrians could return home.

And this is despite the fact that the Syrian rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham is one of many currently considered a terrorist organization by the EU.

The situation is changing quickly.

This morning, a Syrian rebel flag was spotted flying outside the Syrian embassy in Paris. President Macron agreed last night with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that they are “ready to work with the new rulers” of Syria. Even though it is far from clear who that is.

While Hayat Tahrir al-Sham led the astonishingly rapid advance on the capital Damascus, other rebel groups are in control in other parts of the country.

“For now, much of what some call ‘rebel-controlled Syria’ is under the control of a patchwork of groups,” says Geir Pedersen.

The war in Syria may not be over yet.

EU interior ministers will meet in Brussels on Thursday, with migration on the agenda. The latest developments in Syria will be on everyone’s lips.

A spokesperson for the European Commission said the EU stands by the principle that the return of migrants to Syria should take place on the basis that UNHCR conditions are met, “requiring a safe, dignified return to the country, and that hasn’t really changed.”