The Home Office decided to suspend all asylum claims following the toppling of Assad on 8 December [photo by Andrew Aitchison / In pictures via Getty Images]
Syrians in the UK who are applying for asylum and for indefinite leave to remain have been left in limbo by the UK government after it decided to freeze applications following the toppling of Assad.
The home office decision to freeze all asylum applications on 9 December, the day after the fall of the Assad regime, has left 6,600 applications on pause.
According to an official at the Home Office speaking to The Observer, the department is waiting for the Foreign Office to assess the international stance towards Syria, and that costs are rising as the UK is obliged to house and support claimants until a decision is made. Asylum seekers are not permitted to work until their application is approved.
Moreover, until guidance is updated, the freeze cannot be lifted. Lord Hanson, the Home Office minister, told the House of Lords in January that there was no timetable for the process to be resumed.
The Home Office official was quoted by The Observer as saying that the freeze was for “political reasons” and unnecessary as the Home Office “could grant asylum and then revoke it once they ascertain that the refugee no longer runs the risk of being persecuted in their home country”.
As well as ongoing asylum claims, Syrians who are nearing the end of their five-year refugee status and need to renew their refugee claim are also being affected.
Refugee agencies warned that those who need to apply for indefinite leave to remain and are nearing the deadline could lose their rights to housing, work and study.
Many European countries suspended Syrian asylum applications immediately following the toppling of the Assad regime in December, including Germany, Italy and France, and although hundreds of thousands have returned from neighboring countries, many are wary about returning given the economic and security situation in the country.
Syria’s civil war has devastated the country, leaving key infrastructure such as housing, electricity and hospitals devastated and millions internally displaced.
Although the Assad regime has fallen the security situation in Syria is still fluid, with sectarian killings rising as the transitional government attempts to consolidate its authority and regime remnants rebel against the new administration.
Moreover, the new authorities in Damascus, led by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, have yet to begin the process of an inclusive political transition, with the timeline for a national dialogue and writing of a constitution unknown.
The developing situation has made it difficult for Syrian refugees to decide on whether to return home, with many Western governments still hesitant about normalisation and the lifting of sanctions.
The Home Office told The Observer that the department was assessing the situation in Syria.
“We are committed to delivering an asylum system that is responsive to all forms of persecution and which facilitates fair and sustainable asylum decisions,” it said.
