‘Repatriation and deportation’
In Austria, where about 100,000 Syrians live, conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer instructed the interior ministry “to suspend all ongoing Syrian asylum applications and to review all asylum grants.”
Interior Minister Gerhard Karner added he had “instructed the ministry to prepare an orderly repatriation and deportation programme to Syria.”
“The political situation in Syria has changed fundamentally and, above all, rapidly in recent days,” the ministry said, adding it is “currently monitoring and analysing the new situation.”
Denmark, Sweden and Norway also said Monday they were suspending the examination of asylum applications from Syrian refugees. The leader of the far-right Sweden Democrats, a coalition partner in the government, said residence permits for Syrian refugees should now be “reviewed.”
“Destructive Islamist forces are behind the change of power” in Syria, wrote their leader Jimmie Akesson on X.
“I see that groups are happy about this development here in Sweden. You should see it as a good opportunity to go home.”
In Greece, a government spokesman voiced hope that Assad’s fall will eventually allow “the safe return of Syrian refugees” to their country, but without announcing concrete measures.
‘Populist and irresponsible’
In Germany, the debate gained momentum as the country heads towards February elections.
The centre-right opposition CDU suggested that rejected Syrian asylum-seekers should now lose so-called subsidiary protection. “If the reason for protection no longer applies, then refugees will have to return to their home country,” CDU legislator Thorsten Frei told Welt TV.
CDU MP Jens Spahn suggested that Berlin charter flights to Syria and offer 1,000 euros to “anyone who wants to return.”
Members of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats criticised the debate as “populist and irresponsible.” Greens party deputy Anton Hofreiter also said “it is completely unclear what will happen next in Syria” and deportation talk was “completely out of place.”
Many Syrians in Germany have watched the events in their home country with great joy but prefer to wait and see before deciding whether to return home.
“We want to go back to Syria,” said Mahmoud Zaml, 25, who works in an Arabic pastry shop in Berlin, adding that he hopes to help “rebuild” his country. “But we have to wait a bit now,” he told AFP.
“We have to see what happens and if it is really 100 percent safe, then we will go back to Syria.”