UK pauses choices on Syrian asylum claims

The UK has paused choices on Syrian asylum claims, after the nation’s President Bashar al-Assad was overthrown.

Dwelling Secretary Yvette Cooper mentioned the state of affairs was “shifting extraordinarily quick after the autumn of the Assad regime” and a few folks had been returning to Syria following current developments.

Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied insurgent factions seized management of the Syrian capital Damascus on Sunday after years of civil battle.

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has welcomed the tip of Assad’s “barbaric regime” in Syria and known as for the restoration of “peace and stability”.

Germany, France and Sweden are among the many international locations which have additionally paused all pending asylum requests from Syrians, whereas Austria has signalled it should quickly deport refugees again to the nation.

Thousands and thousands of Syrians have fled the nation for the reason that civil battle broke out in 2011, after Assad brutally crushed a pro-democracy rebellion.

Between 2011 and 2021 greater than 30,000 Syrians had been granted asylum within the UK.

Most of those had been resettled beneath humanitarian schemes arrange by the Dwelling Workplace and got here straight from different international locations they’d fled to, equivalent to Turkey and Lebanon.

Nevertheless, greater than 9,000 Syrians have additionally been picked up on the Kent coast, having crossed the Channel in small boats.

Syrians accounted for the fifth largest variety of asylum claims within the yr ending September 2024, based on Dwelling Workplace figures.

Virtually all those that requested asylum have been given the appropriate to remain.

It was calculated that there have been 47,000 Syrian nationals residing within the UK in 2019, however that quantity is believed to have since fallen to round 30,000.

The Dwelling Workplace can be hoping the tip of the Assad dictatorship will see a pointy drop within the variety of Syrians searching for sanctuary and that many already in Britain could now look to return to their homeland.

Nevertheless, there may even be a priority that the fast energy shift in Syria would possibly create a brand new wave of potential refugees.

The uncertainties round what a post-Assad Syria can be like means the Dwelling Workplace will need to preserve the state of affairs beneath fixed evaluate.

Each asylum case have to be judged on its deserves and if somebody who’s now tainted by the Assad regime arrives within the UK and requests asylum, the Dwelling Workplace should decide whether or not that particular person is prone to persecution or human rights violations.

Talking within the Commons on Monday, International Secretary David Lammy steered the state of affairs might see a brand new movement of individuals utilizing unlawful routes to return to the UK.

“Assad’s demise brings no assure of peace. It is a second of hazard in addition to alternative for Syrians and for the area,” he mentioned.

“The humanitarian state of affairs in Syria is dire, with virtually 17 million folks in want. Thousands and thousands are refugees, largely nonetheless in neighbouring Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan.

“Seeing so many begin to return to Syria is a constructive signal for his or her hopes for a greater future now that Assad is gone, however quite a bit will depend on what occurs now, this movement into Syria might rapidly grow to be a movement again out and probably enhance the numbers utilizing harmful unlawful migration routes to Continental Europe and the UK.”

A Dwelling Workplace spokesman mentioned: “The Dwelling Workplace has paused choices on Syrian asylum claims while we assess the present state of affairs.

“We preserve all nation steerage regarding asylum claims beneath fixed evaluate so we will reply to rising points.”