The Austrian Transitional Government ordered today (Monday) to freeze the processing of asylum applications from Syrian citizens, following the rebels’ takeover of Damascus and the escape of President Bashar al-Assad to Russia after 13 years of civil war. the chancellor Carl Nahammer Guided the Minister of the Interior Gerhard Kerner Suspend all current Syrian asylum applications and re-examine all cases in which refugee status has already been granted. “I ordered the ministry to prepare a plan for an orderly return and deportation to Syria,” Kerner said, without specifying how this would be carried out.
After Austria, Greece and Germany also joined. In Greece, a government official told Reuters that they had stopped the application of about 9,000 Syrian asylum seekers. In Germany, the Minister of the Interior stated that it is too early to talk about the return of the Syrian refugees, because the situation in Syria is still volatile, and despite this, asylum applications for Syrians will be suspended due to uncertainty.
Also in Holland, announced Gerrit Wildis the head of the largest party in the Netherlands, called on his government to start accepting applications from immigrants: “If Syrians in the Netherlands are celebrating the new situation in Syria, then they can also get on a plane and go back there. Stop accepting new requests for asylum from Syrians as well!”, he wrote on the X network.
If Syrians in the Netherlands are cheering about the new situation in Syria, they can also be sent back @MinPres Sheaf! And immediately introduce an asylum stop for Syrians!
— Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) December 9, 2024
According to the Austrian Ministry of the Interior, a decision has not yet been made regarding 12,886 Syrian asylum requests, of which 1,146 are based on family reunification. The civil war in Syria forced millions of Syrians to flee the country, with many of them arriving in neighboring Germany and Austria during the European migration crisis of 2015-2016. The negative public reaction to the wave of immigration continues to this day to fuel support for the extreme right and conservatives in Austria.
According to the Austrian Ministry of the Interior, Syrians make up the largest group of asylum seekers in the country, with 12,871 applications submitted this year through November. The ministry also announced the suspension of the family reunification program, under which family members of refugees can join them.
Nahammer and Kerner, both from the conservative People’s Party (OVP), are currently in coalition talks with two other parties with the aim of forming a government without the far-right Freedom Party (FPO), which won first place in September’s parliamentary elections.