Britain freezes applications of 6,500 Syrian asylum seekers

Following in the footsteps of other European countries, Britain intends to freeze decisions on the fate of 6,500 Syrian asylum seekers amid efforts to return refugees after the fall of the Assad regime.

A statement from the British Home Office said that the decision to temporarily halt asylum decisions for Syrian applicants was taken in line with actions taken by other European countries, including all members of the Calais Group - the United Kingdom, Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands.

The Home Office said that taking further action depends on ensuring that there is an effective government, without which it will be impossible to determine whether it is safe for someone to return to Syria.

The statement added that the United Kingdom will continue to register new asylum applications from Syrian nationals, while no one will be deported to their country of origin or any other country where they may face persecution or serious harm.

*No official statement

Since December 8, the British government has not issued any official statement to explain the new policy or the reasons for the decision, which has only been announced through appearances by British officials in the media.

*A state of uncertainty

The Guardian newspaper monitored the psychological and social consequences of this decision on the lives of Syrian refugees in Britain, including the family of Bilal, 39, who has been living in Sheffield with his wife and four children since last year. He had his second interview regarding his asylum application in November, and the Home Office informed him that a decision on his case was "very soon".

But his family became in a state of uncertainty after the British Home Office stopped about 6,500 asylum applications submitted by Syrians, as Immigration Minister Angela Eagle said that the government wants to facilitate the return of refugees to Syria after the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime.

Bilal told the newspaper that even if the return was deemed safe, there would be no future for his children, aged 14 and 10, and four-year-old twins, in Syria.

“I can’t put into words how sad I am. My eldest son is about to sit his GCSEs and I can’t give him the stability he needs. How can I tell him we might have to go back to Syria? How can he focus on his studies when there is so much uncertainty?”

Bilal arrived in the UK last year on a student visa to study for a master’s degree in banking finance at Sheffield Hallam University, which he completed in September. He applied for asylum in 2023 and had his second interview last month.

According to The Guardian, Bilal used all his savings from selling his home in Syria and from his 16-year career in banking to be able to leave, as he did not want to arrive illegally in the UK.

Under the terms of his student visa, he is allowed to work up to 20 hours a week and earns up to £800 a month working 16 hours a week. This has allowed him to pay for private accommodation for his family. His wife works as a volunteer for a local English language support organisation In Sheffield.

Bilal would like to be able to apply for a PhD or work full-time, but he cannot do either without a decision on his asylum application from the Home Office.

*Development in Damascus

Thousands of Syrians have been granted asylum in the UK, but the Home Office has said decisions on applications will now be paused while events in Damascus develop.

According to the British newspaper, the Independent, Home Office statistics showed that Syrians made the fifth largest number of asylum applications in the year to September 2024, after Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Bangladesh, with around 99 per cent of claims approved at first instance.

More than 30,000 Syrians were granted asylum in the UK between 2011 and 2021, most of whom were resettled under Home Office humanitarian programmes and came directly from other countries to which they had fled, such as Turkey and Lebanon.

However, more than 9,000 Syrians were also rescued on the Kent coast after crossing the Channel in small boats.

The number of Syrian nationals living in the UK was estimated to be 47,000 in 2019, but this number is believed to have since fallen to around 30,000.