After the fall of Bashar al-Assad and his family’s 50-year dynasty of fear, several European countries announced a suspension of asylum application procedures. Germany, France and Sweden are among the countries which have also paused all pending asylum requests from Syrians. Austria, meanwhile, has signalled it will soon order refugees to return.
Across Europe, Syrians are presently make up one of the largest groups of asylum seekers. As the primary host country for Syrian refugees within the European Union, Germany has provided shelter to nearly 1 million Syrian nationals. So its decision to declare a halt to processing asylum applications from Syrians the day after the Assad regime collapse was a major step.
This sudden shift in stance from several European countries raises questions about how attitudes have changed. Germany is particularly interesting in light of the country’s previous leadership during the “migration crisis” of 2015.
