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Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera
World
Priyanka Shankar

Why is Europe pausing Syrian asylum claims after al-Assad’s fall?

People carry a Syrian flag as they gather at Oranienplatz square, after Syrian rebels announced that they had ousted President Bashar al-Assad, in Berlin, Germany [File: Annegret Hilse/Reuters]

“Wir schaffen das!” or “We can do it!” said former German Chancellor Angela Merkel nine years ago, when she proclaimed that Germany and Europe had the capacity to grant asylum to people seeking refuge.

Back then, her words offered hope to hundreds of thousands of Syrian people who were fleeing the country’s now-13-year-long civil war, in search of refuge in Europe.

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