LAST UPDATE | 10 Dec 2024

THE DEPARTMENT OF Justice has confirmed that final decisions on international protection applications from Syrian nationals are being temporarily paused. 

The move brings Ireland closer in line with Britain, Germany, France and a number of other European countries who have moved to freeze all pending asylum requests from Syrians this week, following the ousting of president Bashar al-Assad.

Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said in a statement that the International Protection Office would temporarily pause the issuing of final determinations while the situation in Syria is “kept under review”.

The Minister said that she will further discuss this issue at a meeting of EU Justice and Home Affairs Ministers on Thursday.

The decision to pause such applications has been criticised by the Irish Refugee Council, who said in a statement that despite the fall of the Assad regime, Syria should not be automatically considered a “safe place”. 

The council said that the situation is Syria is “extremely fluid”.

Our full statement on @DeptJusticeIRL’s decision to pause international protection applications by Syrians👇 pic.twitter.com/d9DY2X3Jul

— Irish Refugee Council (@IrishRefugeeCo) December 10, 2024

“We would also encourage Ireland to contribute positively and progressively to the EU policy debate on this issue, including reconstruction in Syria.

“Less than two days after Assad’s downfall, several EU member states are rushing to deport and return Syrian people and are using disturbing rhetoric, which is completely inappropriate.”

Under the UNHCR-led refugee resettlement programme, Ireland brought 2,108 Syrian refugees from Lebanon and Jordan to resettle by the end of 2021.

The majority of those who arrived under the programme were family groups, with children under 12 making up 30% of arrivals.

More than 4.5 million Syrians have made their way to Europe since Assad’s crackdown on protests and dissent in 2011 amid the Arab Spring. A long, bloody civil war ensued, and an estimated 306,887 civilians had been killed by 2022, according to a report by the UN.

Two days after Syrian rebel factions took Damascus on Sunday, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Greece and the Netherlands are using the overthrowing of the Assad regime to revise their migration policies, with all temporarily suspending decisions on asylum seeker applications.

The U.K. has also said it will stop processing asylum applications from Syrians.

In Austria, where about 100,000 Syrians live, conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer instructed the interior ministry “to suspend all ongoing Syrian asylum applications and to review all asylum grants”.

Interior Minister Gerhard Karner added he had “instructed the ministry to prepare an orderly repatriation and deportation programme to Syria”.

“The political situation in Syria has changed fundamentally and, above all, rapidly in recent days,” the ministry said, adding it is “currently monitoring and analysing the new situation”.

The French interior ministry said it too would put asylum requests from Syrians on hold, with authorities in Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway announcing similar moves.

Includes reporting by Emma Hickey