Several European countries have suspended processing asylum requests from Syrian nationals following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria.
Are Syrian refugees’ rights at risk in Europe, at a time when hard-right parties are gaining ground with calls to curb immigration? That’s what we see in this episode of Europeans’ Stories.
There are around 1.3 million Syrian asylum-seekers and refugees in the European Union.
Most of them live in Germany, Austria and Sweden. Amidst political crisis, Austria has announced stricter measures, including a programme of “repatriations and deportations”.
Austria announces a programme of “deportations to Syria”
Around 110,000 Syrians are currently living in Austria. Their enthusiasm for Assad’s fall was quickly replaced by the fear of deportation. You can feel it at Brunnenmarkt, in the heart of one of Vienna’s Syrian districts. If you name Assad here, nobody wants to comment.
The outgoing conservative Government started sending letters indicating the start of the procedure of withdrawal of the refugee status. A measure targeting Syrians who received the refugee status less than 5 years ago.
One of the founders of the association Free Syrian Community in Austria, Abdulhkeem Alshater, explains his organization receives calls and messages every day from worried Syrians.
“We find that what the government is doing is inhumane and unacceptable. Syria is not yet safe, not yet stable. Those who have received a letter cannot continue working on family reunification.”
Mid January, the Government had already sent hundreds of letters. 58,000 Syrians who arrived in the past 5 years are concerned. And around 5,000 Syrians in Austria are waiting for their families to join them.
Assad’s fall has opened a new chapter for Syria and a new legal battle for Syrian refugees in Europe, determined to fight for their rights.
Are Syrian refugees really at risk of deportation?
Lawyer and spokesperson of the Austrian NGO Asylkoordination Lukas Gahleitner-Gertz, explains that the State of Austria has the right to evaluate if the reasons why people received their protection status are still existing. But according to him, “we are very far from people having the obligation to leave the country.”
“The announcements done by the Ministry of Interior – adds Gahleitner-Gertz – were aimed at the Austrian electorate to show that they are being tough on asylum seekers, but they do not reflect reality.”
Gahleitner-Gertz considers “unlawful” Austria’s decision to start the procedure of withdrawal of the refugee status, being the situation in Syria still volatile.
Is Syria a safe country of return?
Each EU member state independently assesses the situation in Syria to determine whether it is safe for refugees to return. While the EU Common European Asylum System (CEAS) sets standards for asylum processes, it does not directly mandate whether a specific country is safe for return. As a result, the future of over a million Syrian refugees in Europe hangs in the balance, dependent on national politics not always in line with shared European principles.
