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Translated by: Flutura Gashi-Mehmeti
- December 9, 2024 15:05
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German authorities have stopped processing asylum applications from Syrians after the fall of Bashar al-Assad's government.
Germany's interior ministry said Monday that applications from more than 47,000 people remain pending as Berlin waits for more clarity on the situation in Syria, the New York Times reports.
According to the ministry, for now, Syrian applications would be rejected and "other asylum decisions would take priority".
Germany is the biggest host of Syrian refugees in the EU, with nearly 1 million people fleeing the civil war.
Assad's ouster has prompted calls from the centre-right CDU for incentives to encourage them to return home, although the Social Democrats and Greens have warned it is too early to declare the country safe.
Austria has also suspended all requests for asylum from Syrian citizens and will review the requests already approved after the fall of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, the Ministry of the Interior of the state announced.
"In this context, I have instructed the ministry to prepare a regular repatriation and deportation program in Syria," Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said in a statement on Monday.
The ministry said it was monitoring the rapidly changing situation in Syria and how it would affect asylum applications, adding that almost 12,900 asylum applications were currently open, including 7,300 first-time applications.
