The UK government has announced that it will continue monitoring developments in Syria to decide whether to lift the pause on processing asylum applications from Syrians.
This was stated by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper. According to Cooper, the situation in Syria remains uncertain following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
The new authorities who participated in the overthrow of Assad initially pledged to protect minority rights in the country. However, recent events have cast doubt on those promises, the minister noted.
She also mentioned that there had previously been signs of Syrians, including those living in Turkey, expressing a desire to return to their homeland.
On December 8, Syrian rebels announced they had taken control of the capital, Damascus, signaling the end of more than two decades of Assad’s rule. According to reports, Assad himself is currently in Moscow.
Following these developments, several countries, including Austria and Germany, suspended the processing of Syrian refugee applications. Additionally, representatives of the German opposition bloc CDU/CSU proposed encouraging Syrian refugees residing in Germany to return to their home country.
