Condemn the halting of processing applications of Syrian asylum seekers 

With the departure of Bashar Asad from Syria, Greece, Sweden, Italy, Britain announced their decision to halt consideration of applications for asylum of Syrian refugees. A decision that has caused more uncertainty and worry among hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees everywhere.

There are no exact numbers, but it is estimated that nearly a million people have managed to escape the war and devastation of Syria and sought asylum over the past decade. 

With the fall of Bashar Asad and the speedy change of the circumstances, the Tahrir al-Sham, a reactionary Islamic force, have formed the new ruling body, with “cooperation” of the existing Syrian state apparatus. 

Although the downfall of the tyranny of the Bashar Asad state, and the release of prisoners, dismantled security forces, etc, have rightly been met with jubilation, but it is evident that the changeover was not the outcome of a mass uprising against the regime. The change came through by a militia, formed of many factions, each with a different agenda and ideology, and with support from different regional and global powers. This is a coalition which includes groups and organisations with a history of terror and murder against the very people in Syria. 

While bombardments as widely reported by the Israel, US and Turkey military, are still taking place across Syria, the same UK and other European governments who have listed Tahrir al-Sham as a terrorist organisation, are calling Syria a safe country, showing nothing but their hypocrisy to say the least! Declaring Syria as safe, and not a war zone, is truly worrying, when the memory of the similar declarations made against asylum seekers from Afghanistan is still fresh in minds.

In such a situation, with the lack of any certainty of the actions of the new rulers, people in Syria and those who managed to escape from the country, are being put under more undue pressure. Today, hundreds of thousands of lives, not only of those who fled Syria at the time, but also those who have since been born outside Syria, are once again at risk. 

The decision to halt assessment of applications for asylum, is certainly a violation and a disregard of the commitments based on the Geneva convention for the right of refugees and asylum seekers. This is a decision that most likely will not remain limited to the existing applications and there is a danger of it being extended to other Syrians who live abroad.

This decision must be reversed, and the rights of refugees and asylum-seekers must be safeguarded against all the political dealings and “promises” of the European governments. 

We stand alongside the large sections of the population who stood firm under the banner of “refugees are welcome here” and refused to accept the right wing and racists policies of the European governments to close borders to people fleeing the war in Syria and elsewhere. We stand united with all the freedom seeking and civilized humanity, in demanding an end to halting and rejecting applications of asylum based on the internal and international political dealing of governments. Asylum seekers and refugees are people and should not be forced to face further uncertainty and worries after all the hardship and suffering they have endured in reaching safety and security abroad. 

Hekmatist Party (Official Line) – Organisation Abroad
12 December 2024