Britain, Germany, France, Italy and several other European countries said they would freeze all pending asylum claims by Syrians, days after the removal of President Bashar al-Assad.
While Berlin and other governments said they were watching rapid developments in the war-torn nation, Austria signaled it would soon deport refugees to Syria.
Far-right politicians elsewhere have made similar demands, including in Germany – home to Europe’s largest Syrian community – at a time when .
Alice Weidel, of the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party, reacted with contempt to Sunday’s mass demonstrations by jubilant Syrians celebrating Assad’s fall.
“Everyone in Germany celebrating ‘Free Syria’ evidently has no reason to flee anymore,” he wrote in X. “They should return to Syria immediately.”
World and Syrian leaders abroad ending Assad’s brutal rule while sparking new uncertainty.
A spokesperson for the German Foreign Ministry stressed that “the end of the Assad regime is unfortunately no guarantee of peaceful developments” in the future.
Germany has welcomed nearly a million Syrians, most of whom arrived in 2015-2016 under the leadership of former Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said many Syrian refugees “now finally have hope of returning to their Syrian homeland”, but warned that “the situation in Syria is currently very unclear”.
The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees had imposed a freeze on decisions relating to ongoing asylum procedures “until the situation becomes clearer”.
He added that “concrete possibilities of return cannot yet be predicted and it would be unprofessional to speculate in such an unstable situation.”
Human rights group Amnesty International criticized the freezing of German asylum decisions, stressing that for now: “the human rights situation in the country is completely unclear.”
The head of the United Nations refugee agency also warned that “patience and vigilance” were needed on the issue of refugee returns.
“Repatriation and deportation”
In Austria, where around 100,000 Syrians live, Conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer instructed the Interior Ministry “to suspend all ongoing Syrian asylum requests and to review all asylum grants.”
Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner added that he had “instructed the ministry to prepare an orderly repatriation and deportation program to Syria”.
“The political situation in Syria has changed radically and, importantly, rapidly in recent days,” the ministry said, adding that it is “currently monitoring and analyzing the new situation.”
France’s Interior Ministry said it would also suspend asylum requests from Syrians, with authorities in Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway announcing similar moves.
Britain’s Home Office said it was taking the same measure “as we assess the current situation.”
The Italian government said after a cabinet meeting on Monday evening that it too would suspend asylum requests “in line with other European partners”.
The leader of the far-right Sweden Democrats, a governing coalition partner, said residence permits for Syrian refugees should now be “reviewed”.
“Destructive Islamist forces are behind the takeover” in Syria, their leader Jimmie Akesson wrote in X.
“I see that the groups are happy with this development here in Sweden. You should see it as a good opportunity to return home.”
In Greece, a government spokesperson expressed hope that Assad’s fall would eventually allow “the safe return of Syrian refugees” to their country, but without announcing concrete measures.
Syrian rebel leader discusses ‘transfer of power’ after Assad’s fall
Syria’s Islamic rebel leader began discussions on the transfer of power on Monday, a day after his opposition alliance dramatically ousted Assad.
Rebel leader met with Prime Minister Mohammed al-Jalali “to coordinate a transfer of power that ensures the provision of services” to the Syrian people, said a statement published on the rebels’ Telegram channels.
At the heart of the system of government that Assad inherited from his father Hafez was a brutal complex of prisons and detention centers used to eliminate dissent from those suspected of straying from the ruling Baath Party line.
The UN Security Council meets on the situation in Syria
Members of the UN Security Council discussed the fluid situation in Syria following the fall of Assad on Monday, choosing to stand by and await further developments, according to ambassadors present at the closed-door meeting.
“The Council, I think, was more or less united on the need to preserve the territorial integrity and unity of Syria, to ensure the protection of civilians, to ensure that humanitarian aid arrives,” the Russian ambassador told reporters at the UN Vassili Nebenzia after the press conference. emergency meeting requested by Moscow.
“But look, everyone was taken by surprise by what happened, everyone, including the council members. So we have to wait, (to see how the situation will evolve),” he said.
US Deputy Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood called the situation “a very fluid situation”.
“No one expected the Syrian forces to fall like a house of cards,” he said.
“As many have said during the consultations… the situation is extremely fluid and is likely to change from day to day for the time being.”
