Belgium's General Commissariat for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGRS) will temporarily halt the processing of Syrian asylum applications.
The decision was first reported by De Standaard and confirmed to Belga News Agency, and is due to uncertainty in the region. The decades-old Assad regime fell on Sunday when the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) captured the cities of Aleppo, Hama, Homs and Damascus. Syria's ruler of 13 years Bashar Al-Assad has fled the country.
In this context, CGRS has temporarily halted the processing of Syrian asylum applications because the risk of return is difficult to assess.
"We have decided to temporarily stop processing Syrian asylum applications today, except for individuals who hold status in another EU Member State as there is no fear regarding the country of origin in these cases," said CGRS spokesperson Olivier Brasseur.
Applications will therefore be put on hold until there is more clarity regarding the situation in Syria. "In the meantime, people still have the right to shelter," Brasseur added.
Refugee status under review
Over the past decade, approximately 35,000 Syrians have received protection in Belgium. Syrians remain the top nationality for asylum applications this year, with 4,725 applications as of October.
CGRS is monitoring the situation closely under instructions from outgoing State Secretary for Asylum and Migration Nicole De Moor (CD&V).
"If the situation in Syria improves sustainably, I will ask CGRS to review the refugee status of Syrians who arrived in the last five years," said De Moor. "However, it is too early for that at the moment. We also do not intend to revoke residency from those who are well-integrated, working, speaking Dutch fluently or with children who attend school."
She added that Belgium has a "well-established programme for voluntary return" and that the country is ready to assist Syrians who want to go back.
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Austria says it will halt all Syrian asylum applications and is preparing an "expulsion programme" for Syrian refugees in the country. Around 7,300 out of 100,000 Syrians living in Austria will be affected by the decision.
"From now on, all ongoing procedures will be stopped," the Austrian Interior Ministry said in a statement. All individuals granted asylum will have their cases reviewed, and family reunification has also been suspended.
"The political situation in Syria has fundamentally changed, with a sudden acceleration of events in recent days," said Interior Minister Gerhard Karner.
Like Belgium, Germany has announced the suspension of Syrian asylum application processing. Despite these changing positions, the European Commission has tempered expectations about people returning to Syria in the near future.
"The current situation is characterised by great hope, but also by great uncertainty. It is up to each individual and each family to decide what they want to do," a spokesperson said on Monday afternoon, adding that the conditions for a safe and dignified return to Syria are not currently in place.
