A growing number of EU nations and the UK are pausing the processing of asylum claims from Syrians after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government.
Germany’s interior ministry said on Monday that more than 47,000 asylum claims had been put on hold while Berlin awaited more clarity on the situation in Syria. For the time being, Syrian applications would be pushed down the pile and “other asylum decisions would be prioritised”, it said.
The UK, Italy, Austria, the Netherlands, Finland and Greece also halted the processing of claims from Syrian nationals, while France — which has 450 pending applications — said it was reviewing its policy, with a decision expected later on Monday.