European countries urged not to abandon Syrians applying for asylum

People wave Syrian opposition flags in Duisburg, Germany. Syrians should continue to be granted the same rights as all other asylum seekers, the UNHCR says. Photograph: Sascha Schuermann/AFP/Getty Images

The UN’s refugee agency and the UK’s biggest refugee charity have urged European countries not to turn their backs on the Syrians who are applying for asylum.

Interventions from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Refugee Council follow the UK government’s suspension of 6,500 asylum claims from Syrian nationals after the collapse of the Assad regime.