Austria on Monday said it was suspending all Syrian asylum applications and wanted to deport refugees back to Syria, a day after Islamist-led rebels swept into Damascus, ending ousted president Bashar al-Assad’s brutal rule.
Some 100,000 Syrians live in Austria, one of the biggest diaspora populations in Europe, with thousands waiting for asylum applications to be approved.
Conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer on Monday instructed the interior ministry “to suspend all ongoing Syrian asylum applications and to review all asylum grants,” the ministry said in a statement.
“From now on, open (asylum) proceedings of Syrian citizens will be stopped,” it said.
Interior Minister Gerhard Karner added he has “instructed the ministry to prepare an orderly repatriation and deportation programme to Syria”.
Family reunification — allowing Syrians in Austria to bring relatives to the country — will also be suspended, the statement added.
“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”.
“It is essential to reassess the situation, which is necessary for further processing of the cases,” the ministry added.
Around 7,300 Syrians whose asylum applications are in the first stage of consideration “are affected” by the suspension, the ministry said.
Since 2015, some 87,000 Syrians have been given asylum.
Austria’s anti-migration far right topped national elections in September though they have been unable to find partners to govern, leaving the runner-up conservatives trying to form a new government.
On Sunday, a lightning offensive spearheaded by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) ended five decades of rule by the Assad family.
HTS is rooted in Syria’s Al-Qaeda branch but broke ties with the group in 2016. The group and its leader, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, are under EU sanctions.
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