Following the fall of the Assad regime, millions of refugees are now able to return to Syria. A spokesperson for the German Interior Ministry stated that the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees has temporarily halted asylum applications for Syrians as of Monday, December 9th, until further notice.
According to a report from Deutsche Presse-Agentur, the spokesperson mentioned that asylum applications will not be processed until there is more clarity on the political developments in Syria.
Local authorities have indicated that 47,270 applications will be affected by the freeze, but those applications which have already been decided upon will not be impacted.
Meanwhile, the Austrian Interior Ministry has confirmed to the media that they have also decided to suspend asylum applications, affecting a total of 7,300 applications.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz mentioned on Sunday that the end of the Assad regime is “temporarily” good news and emphasized the immediate need to restore law and order in the country.
He added, “We will judge the future rulers based on whether they allow all Syrians to live with dignity and autonomy, whether they defend Syria’s sovereignty from external malicious interference, and whether they peacefully coexist with neighboring countries.”
Currently, there are over 800,000 individuals holding Syrian citizenship residing in Germany. In 2015, then-Chancellor Angela Merkel made the decision to accept over one million asylum seekers into the country, with the majority of Syrian refugees entering Germany at that time.