By Riham Alkousaa
BERLIN (Reuters) – European countries were putting asylum applications from Syrians on hold until further notice on Monday after rebels toppled autocratic president Bashar al-Assad.
The decision, which affects tens of thousands of open claims, reflects rising support across the continent for right-wing parties opposed to immigration or keen to restrict it.
Germany opened its doors wide to a surge of asylum seekers in 2015 at the height of Syria’s 13-year civil war, and is now home to nearly a million Syrians, the largest community in Europe.
The Berlin interior ministry said on Monday it would not process asylum requests until there was more clarity on political developments in Syria.
Other countries including Norway and Austria also announced a suspension of Syrian requests, and France said it hoped to announce a similar decision shortly.
Syria was the top country of origin for asylum seekers in Germany this year, with 72,420 applications submitted by the end of November, data from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) shows. Some 47,270 remain undecided.
The pausing of applications does not affect those already granted, according to BAMF. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said assessments would depend on developments in Syria, and that it was too soon to say whether the country was safe to return to.
Norwegian immigration authorities said Syrians’ asylum applications would neither be denied nor approved for now.
Denmark also paused processing applications and said Syrians whose applications had already been rejected, and who had been given a deadline to leave, would be allowed to remain longer due to the current uncertainty.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer instructed his interior minister to suspend all current Syrian asylum applications and family reunifications, and said that cases in which asylum had been granted would also be reviewed.
Greece paused the asylum applications of about 9,000 Syrians, a senior Greek government source told Reuters.
Sweden’s immigration authority did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Germany is gearing up for a snap election set for February, with far-right and conservative parties topping opinion polls.
An Infratest survey published on Friday indicated that voters view migration as Germany’s second biggest problem after the economy.
ProAsyl, a German group providing legal and practical assistance to asylum seekers, said it might take many months for clarity to emerge on Syria’s security situation, potentially exceeding the six-month limit for a decision.
(Reporting by Riham Alkousaa in Berlin, Terje Solsvik in Oslo, Francois Murphy in Vienna, Layli Foroudi and Juliette Jabkhiro in Paris and Karolina Tagaris in Athens; Editing by Friederike Heine, Rachel More and Kevin Liffey)
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