European countries put Syrian asylum bids on hold after Assad's fall

BERLIN - European countries put asylum applications from Syrians on hold until further notice on Monday after rebels seized the Syrian capital and President Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia following 13 years of civil war.

The decision, which affects tens of thousands of open claims, reflects the rapidly changing political situation in Syria as well as a resurgence of right-wing parties across Europe keen to restrict immigration.

Germany opened its doors wide to a surge of asylum seekers in 2015 at the height of Syria's civil war, and is now home to nearly a million Syrians, the largest community in Europe.

The Berlin Interior Ministry said on Monday it would not process asylum requests until there was more clarity on political developments in Syria. Britain paused decisions on asylum claims as well, with the interior ministry saying it was assessing the situation.

Under a British government scheme, 20,319 Syrian refugees had been resettled in the country between March 2014 and February 2021, according to the Refugee Council.

Other countries including Norway, Italy, Austria and the Netherlands also announced suspensions of Syrian requests. France said it hoped to announce a similar decision shortly.

In its statement, the Italian government said it would keep a diplomatic presence in Damascus, expressing "deep gratitude" to the embassy staff there.

SYRIANS TOP ASYLUM SEEKERS TO GERMANY

Syria was the top country of origin for asylum seekers in Germany this year, with 72,420 applications submitted by the end of November, data from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) shows. Some 47,270 remain undecided.

The pausing of applications does not affect those already granted, according to BAMF. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said assessments would depend on developments in Syria, and that it was too soon to say whether the country was safe to return to.

Norwegian immigration authorities said Syrians' asylum applications would neither be denied nor approved for now.

Denmark also paused processing applications and said Syrians whose applications had already been rejected, and who had been given a deadline to leave, would be allowed to remain longer due to the current uncertainty.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer instructed his interior minister to suspend all current Syrian asylum applications and family reunifications, and said cases in which asylum had been granted would also be reviewed.

Greece paused the asylum applications of about 9,000 Syrians, a senior Greek government source told Reuters. Officials have said the government will meet on Friday to finalise the move.

Sweden's immigration authority did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Germany is gearing up for a snap election in February, with far-right and conservative parties topping opinion polls.

An Infratest survey published on Friday indicated that voters view migration as Germany's second-biggest problem after the economy.

ProAsyl, a German group providing legal and practical assistance to asylum seekers, said it might take many months for clarity to emerge on Syria's security situation, potentially exceeding the six-month limit for a decision.

Updating the British parliament on the situation in Syria, Foreign Minister David Lammy warned developments could potentially trigger more migration into European states.

"Seeing so many start to return to Syria is a positive sign for their hopes for a better future now that Assad is gone," Lammy told parliament.

"But a lot depends on what happens now. This flow into Syria could quickly become a flow back out and potentially increase the numbers using dangerous illegal migration routes to continental Europe and the United Kingdom."

(Reporting by Riham Alkousaa in Berlin, Terje Solsvik in Oslo, Francois Murphy in Vienna, Layli Foroudi and Juliette Jabkhiro in Paris, Karolina Tagaris in Athens, Muvija M and Catarina Demony in London, Anthony Deutsch in Amsterdam, Angelo Amante in Rome; Editing by Friederike Heine, Rachel More, Kevin Liffey, Christina Fincher and Rod Nickel)