Analysis
European countries are taking advantage of the Syrian regime change to block refugees
While the processing of asylum applications has been blocked, there are already those who are looking toward even more drastic goals. Austria plans to seize the opportunity to launch a total crackdown and deport its Syrian refugees.
It was a snowball effect. First Berlin, then Vienna and Brussels, followed by Rome, Athens, Copenhagen, Oslo, Helsinki and Amsterdam: in unison, they all halted asylum applications submitted by Syrian nationals. Outside the EU as well, London, Stockholm and Bern quickly took the same line. Among EU member countries, France is still evaluating the situation, while Spain disagrees. The decision applies to the thousands of applications for asylum protection filed these days by those who are vying for safety from the regime change in Damascus, but also to the tens of thousands already filed and pending approval.
Giorgia Meloni's Italy had been working for some time on various options to bar the way for Syrians, who have been the second-most-common nationality in refugee landings in 2024: 12,000 people, just behind Bangladesh, out of a total of 63,000. That was why Italy had recently appointed an ambassador to Damascus, a singular move among EU countries. The goal was to work with the former Assad regime to identify “safe zones” inside a country that could not be considered safe (likely in view of the new European regulations that will come into effect in 2026).
The UNHCR has said in a press release that it “takes note of the decision by a number of States who have suspended asylum decision-making on Syrian claims for international protection,” while stressing that “Syrian asylum-seekers who are waiting for a resumption of decision-making on their claims should continue to be granted the same rights as all other asylum-seekers, including in terms of reception conditions. No asylum-seeker should be forcibly returned, as this would violate the non-refoulement obligation on States.”
While the processing of asylum applications has been blocked, there are already those who are looking toward even more drastic goals. Austria plans to seize the opportunity to launch a total crackdown and deport its Syrian refugees. And that, in the end, is simply a less sugarcoated version of the striking solution proposed in Germany by former Health Minister Jens Spahn, current deputy leader of the CDU in the Bundestag: “We should incentivize the return of refugees to Syria as the situation there stabilizes. An economic offer should be made to those who would accept it: one-way airfare to Damascus plus a check for €1,000 to each refugee.” For that matter, Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, also advised to “remain focused on the issue of returns.”
The looming crackdown on Syrian migrants goes beyond the EU’s borders. In London, the government led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer is working at an accelerated pace to remove the main obstacle to the “consolidation of Syria” – the final hurdle preventing Damascus from being put on the list of “safe countries” – as soon as possible: namely, the inconvenient presence on the list of terrorist organizations of the jihadists from Hayat Tahrir al-Sahm (HTS), formerly the Al Qaeda-affiliated Al Nusra, which has toppled Assad.
This was hinted at last week by Pat McFadden, Minister Delegate for Coordination of the Starmer Cabinet, who is clearly intent on “reconsidering” HTS’s presence on the list. “It basically depends on how they behave after taking Damascus” seems to be the new yardstick adopted by the Starmer government for deciding whether to give a clean bill of health to the new regime.
Berlin is also looking closely at these signals. The Interior Ministry led by Nancy Faeser (SPD) signaled openness to reviewing the internationally recognized terrorist blacklist: “We have to judge the HTS by its actions,” Faeser stressed, who will be in office for just a few more days until Dec. 16, when the Parliament was set to topple the Scholz government with a no-confidence vote. In Germany alone, 47,270 Syrians will pay the price for this backlash in the name of the new realpolitik, i.e. those whose applications are currently being processed by the Bureau of Immigration and Refugees (BAMF), the body that is still (as of today) tasked with assessing each application “on a case-by-case basis,” as required by German law.
BAMF has decided to pause the processing of asylum applications for Syrian citizens, citing the “extremely dynamic, unclear, and difficult to assess” situation in the country. “If the situation stabilizes to a degree that allows for a thorough assessment, the Federal Office will consider adjusting its decision-making practices and resume full processing.” According to data from the Interior Ministry, there are 974,136 people of Syrian origin living in Germany today, including political refugees, holders of subsidiary protection and holders of other residence permits, mainly for family reunification.
Going beyond the differences in nuance between member countries, however, the message is clear: the EU that momentarily opened its borders in 2015, with Germany in the lead, is a thing of the past. Now is the time for “deterrence”: desperate people must be discouraged from coming here. By any means necessary.
Originally published at https://ilmanifesto.it/profughi-siriani-la-risposta-europea-e-congelare-lasilo on 2024-12-10