While the collapse of Assad's dictatorship was widely celebrated among Syrians, those seeking asylum in Belgium face a whole new nightmare.
Shortly after the fall of the regime on Sunday, videos emerged of Syrians celebrating in Belgian cities. However, Belgium's General Commissariat for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGVS) soon announced a temporary pause in processing Syrian asylum applications, alongside other EU states.
"We can't establish a fear of return for all remaining cases because we do not know how the situation will evolve," CGVS spokesperson Olivier Brasseur told The Brussels Times.
Since the civil war started in 2011, some 44,000 Syrians received international protection in Belgium, mostly for risks related to the Assad regime. "But this motive will no longer suffice."
Mohammed Abdullah, known to everyone as Artino Van Damas (from Damascus), applied for protection in Belgium after fleeing Syria - he now works for NGO 11.11.11. He questions the timing, given the country's future remains so uncertain.
"I can understand their perspective, but it wasn't the right moment," he told The Brussels Times. "We don't know what will happen tomorrow, never mind next week or next month. Meanwhile, EU governments paused asylum applications."
An uncertain future
More than 3,000 applications from Syria are still being processed. Some people had an "introductory interview", while others already had their second interview. This is the key moment in the procedure, preceded by months of stress and worry, as applicants have to "defend" their request.
Thousands were waiting for a final decision when the pause was announced. Many were already integrating.
One such person is Nora, a Syrian woman who fled to Lebanon a decade ago. She was invited to speak at a conference in Brussels in April and was refused re-entry into Lebanon despite having residency. "Airport security told me: 'We don't want Syrians anymore'."
Credit: Belga
She applied for asylum in Belgium, but after a first interview, heard nothing for months. While waiting, she learned Dutch and was top of her class. She hoped to apply for family reunification so her husband – stuck in Lebanon – could join her.
"Then came the decision. Even with the issues still going on, they immediately stopped asylum procedures. This is cruel because we don't know what the future holds."
Nora's family opposed the regime for which her brother was imprisoned in the notorious Sednaya jail. She is an Alawite, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. "Even now, as a minority Alawite, it is not safe for me to go back. We don't know how the new leaders will treat us."
Nora feels humiliated. "I am 33, I had a house, I was a project manager for an NGO in Lebanon. Here, I can't work; I paid to learn the language out of my pocket. And now they make this decision."
How long the pause will remain in place is uncertain. "We need objective information from reports and our research service to make a solid analysis," Brasseur said.
Call to leave?
Some countries proposed tougher steps: Austria is considering repatriating Syrians. "Instead of using this momentum to help us rebuild Syria, governments jump at the chance to get rid of us," said Van Damas.
For Van Damas, who lived in Belgium for nine years and has Belgian nationality, this rhetoric is devastating. "I feel I owe Belgium a lot: it has given me safety, hope, opportunities, a career." Many of his Syrian friends in Europe feel the same. "They speak the language and have built lives for themselves."
Some want to travel to Syria to see family – in many cases, for the first time in decades – but afterwards, they want to return to their "new" home. "Most Syrians feel like they belong here. I wish Belgians could see that we want to contribute to society."
Belgium will not revoke the protection status of people who received it before the pause was introduced, for the time being. "If we don't know what the situation is for people applying for asylum, we also can't make decisions on those granted status."
Dangers facing ethnic groups
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, stressed that any return of Syrians must be "voluntary" and "safe" as the situation in Syria remains "uncertain".
Baderkhan Ahmad, a Syrian journalist, pointed to the dangers facing different ethnic groups in Syria, such as the Druze, Alawites and Christians. "There is significant concern about the future," he told The Brussels Times. There are already reports of internal displacement and migration toward Lebanon.
The Zaatari refugee camp, the world's largest camp for Syrian refugees, in 2021. Credit: Belga/ Nicolas Maeterlinck
Kurdish people in Syria are among those facing threats. Zana Hanafi, a Kurdish woman who fled Kobanî, Syria due to the violence she faced based on her ethnicity, says the groups fighting for Syria's freedom do not like Kurds. Meanwhile, Turkish strikes on Kurdish-held areas in northern Syria intensified, resulting in dozens of civilian deaths, according to local reports.
"Turkey-backed rebels took control of Manbij, close to Kobanî, where my relatives live," she told The Brussels Times. "In towns that Turkey took over, people are forced to learn in Turkish, and women and girls have to wear headscarves, despite this not being compulsory for Kurds."
The situation for people in Kobanî is unclear. "My relatives live in fear. Yesterday, they played card games with the children to dispel their anxiety."
The cabinet of outgoing State Secretary for Migration Nicole de Moor (CD&V) stressed that once the pause is lifted, every situation will be considered on an individual basis. In theory, this means ethnic groups facing dangers if returned to Syria, would still receive protection status in Belgium. In the meantime, however, anxiety and uncertainty for many remain.
