Austria suspends asylum applications for Syrian refugees and prepares their “expulsion”

The Austrian authorities announced on Monday, the day after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, that they would suspend asylum requests from refugees from that country and prepare “an expulsion program.”

“From now on, all ongoing procedures will be stopped,” the Austrian Interior Ministry said in a statement.

Around 7,300 files are affected by this decision among the approximately 100,000 Syrians living in Austria, one of the countries which has welcomed the most in Europe.

The cases of those who have already been granted asylum will also be reviewed. Family reunification is also suspended.

“In this context, I have instructed the ministry to prepare a repatriation and expulsion program to Syria,” added Interior Minister Gerhard Karner.

“The political situation in Syria has fundamentally changed, with a sudden acceleration of events in recent days,” said the ministry, deeming it “important to reassess the situation.”

Since 2015, around 87,000 Syrians have received a positive response to their asylum request in the country of nine million inhabitants.

But conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer has toughened measures in recent years in the face of the surge of the far right, which won the legislative elections for the first time at the end of September. Lacking partners to govern, it is excluded from the ongoing negotiations to form a new government.

President Bashar al-Assad fled Syria, driven out by a spectacular offensive by Islamist rebels, a turning point in history which ended on Sunday half a century of unchallenged rule by his family clan.

While welcoming the fall of power, several countries have urged Syrians to avoid the trap of extremism.

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