European countries urged not to abandon Syrians applying for asylum

The UN’s refugee agency and the UK’s biggest refugee charity have urged European countries not to turn their backs on the Syrians who are applying for asylum.

Interventions from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Refugee Council follow the UK government’s suspension of 6,500 asylum claims from Syrian nationals after the collapse of the Assad regime.

Germany has also stopped processing claims while Austria’s government has said it is preparing to repatriate Syrians.

The UNHCR said: “It is critical that Syrians who are compelled to flee the country are given access to territory.

“In light of the uncertain and highly fluid situation, the suspension of processing of asylum applications from Syrians is acceptable as long as people can apply for asylum and are able to lodge asylum applications.

“Syrian asylum seekers who are waiting for a resumption of decision-making on their claims should continue to be granted the same rights as all other asylum seekers … no asylum seeker should be forcibly returned as this would violate the non-refoulement obligation on states.”

Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said the UK should avoid leaving Syrian asylum applicants in limbo by freezing claims indefinitely.

He said: “While the risks facing people are changing, it should still be possible to decide every case on its merits in the weeks and months ahead. People must not be left stuck for months with no idea what’s going to happen to them.

“We know too well the long-term harm of leaving men, women and children in chronic asylum limbo, unable to move on with their lives while they wait for news of their fate.”

A Syrian asylum seeker said that their family could face threats from the smuggling gangs that brought them to Britain if their asylum applications are halted and they are unable to work.

They said: “Many of us arrive here in debt to the smugglers who brought us here. It cost my family $10,000 to pay the smugglers to bring me from Syria to UK.

“Usually when Syrians get their refugee status they can get a job, pay taxes and use a lot of their income to pay off their debts to the smugglers. The smugglers … know where our families live.”

Asked on Tuesday morning whether leave to remain would continue for people who had been granted the status after fleeing Syria, Angela Eagle, the UK immigration minister, told Times Radio: “We have suspended our consideration of the current asylum claims – about 6,500 – until we can see what emerges from the current situation.

“If people wish to go home we’d certainly like to facilitate that, but I think it’s too early to say what will emerge from the events that have happened in the last few days.”

Many asylum seekers in the UK have already been stuck in a backlog for a year or more because the previous Conservative government declared some Syrian and other claims inadmissible as ministers hoped to be able to send people to Rwanda.