Human rights activists and refugee advocates in Austria said that the government’s rapid and irresponsible actions have created a climate of widespread fear and insecurity among Syrian refugees.
The Free Syrian Community Association in Austria called on those responsible for politics to move away from questionable political headlines and return to objectivity and procedures that comply with the law.
The Asylkoordination Austria platform quoted representatives of civil society organizations as expressing their fear that the government would announce programs to deport refugees and return them to their country after the fall of Assad. “This is inhumane, disrespectful and unacceptable,” said Abdul Hakim Al-Shater from the Austrian-Syrian Association.
The sudden political change at the expense of refugees has destroyed the hard-won progress achieved over years of treatment, according to psychiatrist Dr. Salma Naasan Agha from her work.
She added: “It is worrying: the government is undermining the meager integration measures with its announcements that cannot be implemented in any case.
Agha called for help in stabilizing the country and enabling Syrians to return sustainably and voluntarily instead of leading populist discussions about deportation.
*Unacceptable
Dr. Judith Kohlenberger of the University of Vienna explained to the source that Austria has a large Syrian diaspora and could therefore contribute cooperatively at the European level.
The Austrian academic added that starting deportations at this time is legally questionable and stopping family reunification is unacceptable.
“Not every change in the situation in a crisis or war situation justifies the revocation of the protection status. The legal requirement is a significant and permanent improvement in the situation. Despite the collapse of the regime’s army, there can be no doubt about that at the moment,” she added.
“The authorities cannot provide evidence that the situation has improved, although they bear the burden of proof,” said Lukas Galitner-Gertz of the Asylum Coordination Austria, criticizing this approach. However, there is no legal protection against the inadmissible initiation of revocation proceedings. This is clearly being used to make family reunification procedures impossible.
*Stability and the rule of law
The director of the BFA, Gernot Meyer, commented that whether and when it will be possible to return to Syria depends on the development of the situation on the spot.
He added that stability, the rule of law and respect for human rights are of utmost importance. Meyer stressed that if these basic criteria were applied in Syria, “we would very quickly start deportation procedures. The agency will now start this for people who have already ended up at the BFA table due to certain procedures.” *Open cases
According to statistics from Austria, 95,180 Syrians were registered living in Austria at the beginning of 2024. From January to November, 12,081 asylum applications were filed by citizens of the country. From November 2015 to November 2024, 86,905 Syrian applicants were granted asylum, and 17,421 were granted subsidiary protection.
According to the ministry, there are currently 12,886 cases of Syrian citizens open in the first and second phases, of which 1,146 are related to family reunification.
Against the backdrop of the current developments in Syria and the overthrow of the Assad regime, Austria has responded by suspending asylum applications submitted by citizens of the country. According to the Ministry of the Interior, Chancellor Karl Nehammer has instructed Minister Gerhard Karner (both ÖVP) to suspend all ongoing Syrian asylum applications and to review all asylum decisions that have already been positively decided.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, 7,300 open cases are primarily affected by this decree. They also say they want to suspend family reunifications from countries that were previously at war.
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