After the overthrow of the regime of the ex-president of Syria Bashar al-Assad one by one, European countries put on hold the consideration of asylum applications for Syrian refugees.
This is reported by Reuters.
Croatia said it had temporarily suspended asylum applications from Syrians, following the lead of other European governments. Minister of Internal Affairs Davor Bozhinovych explained that his department was instructed not to accept requests until there is a decision at the level of the European Union. At the same time, he emphasized that Syrians were fleeing from a repressive regime that was killing its own citizens.
"This regime no longer exists... and we all hope that the situation in the country will allow Syrians to return to their country, which is in everyoneʼs interests," he added.
Other countries, including Germany, Denmark, Norway, Italy, Austria, the Netherlands, Greece and Switzerland, are also suspending consideration of Syrian requests until the political situation in Syria becomes clearer.
In a statement, the Italian government said it would maintain a diplomatic presence in Damascus, expressing "deep gratitude" to embassy staff there. However, asylum applications from Syrians will not be considered.
Germany was one of the first to freeze the processing of asylum applications from Syrians. Almost a million Syrian citizens live in the country now. The country has been accepting them since 2015, at the height of the civil war in Syria. Currently, another 47 270 asylum applications from Syrians have not been approved in Germany.
The overthrow of the Assad regime in Syria
Active clashes between the rebels and Syrian troops began on November 27. The offensive was launched by the Syrian Revolutionary Forces in "response to months of continuous attacks on civilians" by the Assad regime in Aleppo province. It was the most intense fighting in northwest Syria since 2020, when government forces seized areas previously controlled by opposition fighters.
On December 1, the media reported that the Assadʼs Forces had lost control of Aleppo for the first time since the start of the military conflict that began more than a decade ago. As of December 8, the Syrian opposition was in the capital Damascus. The countryʼs prime minister is preparing to hand over the functions of the transitional government to her.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Bashar al-Assad left the post of president of Syria and left the country, adding that he gave the order to transfer power peacefully and before that held negotiations with the participants in the conflict. Now Assad and his family are in Russia and have received political asylum.
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