European Countries Freeze Asylum Applications From Syria After Assad’s Downfall

European countries are putting a freeze on asylum applications from Syria after the rapid collapse of the government of the brutal dictator, Bashar al-Assad, until a better picture emerges of the political situation in the war-torn country.Throughout the roughly 13-year civil war, an estimated 14 million people fled Syria, with millions making their way to Europe. While it is unclear if the end of the war will trigger another flood of refugees or a return to Syria, officials in Europe are preemptively putting a pause on asylum applications just in case. A spokesman for Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees says asylum applications will not be processed until they can get a clearer picture of the political situation in Syria. The decision will affect more than 47,200 pending asylum applications, but not applications that were already approved. More than 800,000 people with Syrian citizenship live in Germany. The majority of the refugees entered the country after Chancellor Merkel’s 2015 decision to let more than a million asylum seekers enter Germany.Austria also said it would pause asylum applications. In a statement, Austria’s Interior Ministry said, “Chancellor Karl Nehammer today instructed Interior Minister Gerhard Karner to suspend all current Syrian asylum applications and to review all cases in which asylum was granted.” The interior ministry is drafting a “program of orderly repatriation and deportation to Syria.”Roughly 95,000 Syrian refugees are living in Austria, and about 13,000 asylum applications are pending. Sweden also announced it is pausing asylum applications. The head of legal affairs of the Swedish Migration Agency, Carl Bexelius, said in a statement, “Given the situation, it is simply not possible to assess the grounds for protection at this time.” Officials in France and Greece told reporters on Monday that they were making preparations to freeze asylum applications as well. Syrian refugees made up a large proportion of the migrants who traveled to Europe during the migrant crisis of 2015, as more than 1.2 million Syrian refugees fled the civil war into European Union countries, helping to fuel the rise of conservative parties with hardline immigration stances. After the fall of the Assad regime, it is unclear whether there will be another exodus from Syria or if those who fled the country will decide to return. Syrians are expressing joy that the war and the Assad government are over. However, the future of the country remains unclear, and some minorities, such as Christians, are nervous about what the future holds. The rebel group that spearheaded the rapid fall of Mr. Assad, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, has been designated a terrorist organization by America and England. Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham emerged in 2017 and initially was known as Jabhat al-Nusra, and was affiliated with al-Qaeda. However, the group and its leader, Abu Mohammed al-Golani, made public statements announcing a break with al-Qaeda.Mr. al-Golani says he wants to protect all Syrians and is making more moderate-sounding proclamations about how he will govern. In cities that HTS has governed, so far, it has not implemented repressive policies, such as requiring Christian women to wear hijabs or targeting Christian buildings or Christmas decorations. Middle East analysts doubt Mr. al-Golani will stay true to the more moderate image he has sought to cast, however. An analyst focused on Iranian proxies and Syria at the Atlantic Council, Phillip Smyth, told Fox News, “HTS is a group that is an outgrowth of al-Qaeda and has connections to Turkey. Their endgame is to create a Taliban-esque society with a few tweaks.”Besides questions about whether HTS will live up to its leader’s expression of tolerance, there are also questions about whether the group will be able to solidify its grip on power and prevent prolonged fighting between the various other rebel groups in Syria.

European Countries Freeze Asylum Applications From Syria After Assad’s Downfall

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