The Guardian reports:

The UK and other European countries have said they will suspend the processing of asylum applications from Syrians after the fall of the Assad regime in Damascus, with Austria already preparing a “repatriation and deportation” programme to the country.

In London, a Home Office spokesperson said it had “temporarily paused decisions on Syrian asylum claims whilst we assess the current situation”.

“We keep all country guidance relating to asylum claims under constant review so we can respond to emerging issues,” the spokesperson added.

The moves come despite a lack of clarity over what lies ahead for Syria, one day after rebel forces seized the capital and the president fled to Russia.

Among the first in Europe to react was Germany, home to Europe’s largest Syrian diaspora after taking in nearly a million Syrians fleeing the country’s devastating war.

Germany’s interior minister, Nancy Faeser, said on Monday in a statement that the end of Assad’s “brutal tyranny” had come as a great relief to many. “Many refugees who have found protection in Germany now finally have hope of returning to their Syrian homeland and rebuilding their country.”

She said, however, that the “the situation in Syria is currently very unclear”, citing the “volatile situation” as to why the country’s federal office for migration and refugees had imposed a freeze on decisions for asylum procedures. More than 47,000 asylum applications from Syrians are pending.

Countries across Europe swiftly followed suit, even as questions continued to swirl over what comes next for Syria.

The Swedish migration agency said it would pause all decisions on Syrian asylum requests and deportations. The French government said it was also considering suspending current asylum cases and would make a decision in the coming hours.

Greece had also paused about 9,000 applications for Syrians seeking asylum, a government source told Reuters, while, Finland, Norway, Italy, the Netherlands and Belgium had reportedly taken similar measures.

In Austria, the caretaker government went further, saying it had ordered a halt to the processing of asylum applications from Syrians and a review of all the cases in which asylum had been granted. Syrians rank as the largest group of asylum seekers in the country, with 12,871 applications lodged as of November this year.

The country’s interior minister, Gerhard Karner, added: “I have instructed the ministry to prepare a programme of orderly repatriation and deportation to Syria.” He did not provide further details.

On Monday, the head of the UN’s refugee agency urged countries to wait and see what would happen next in Syria. “Patience and vigilance will be necessary, hoping that developments on the ground will evolve in a positive manner, allowing voluntary, safe and sustainable returns to finally occur – with refugees able to make informed decisions,” Filippo Grandi said in a statement. [Continue reading…]