Greece Freezes Syria Asylum Decisions as EU States Mull Refugee Returns
Source: Balkan Insight
National Security Council halts asylum decisions on Syrian refugees, as EU countries ponder establishing framework for voluntary returns of refugees to their home country after the Assad regime collapsed.
Greece’s Council for National Security on Friday froze asylum decisions on Syrian refugees until further notice – as various EU member states have also done in the wake of the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
There are an estimated 9,500 Syrians living in Greece, who remain under international protection.
The move comes after the Ministry of Migration and Asylum, again following the example of other EU countries, on December 10 temporarily froze the asylum process for Syrians held in refugee camps.
Greek government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis said that Athens hopes that “the return to democratic normality should mark the end of refugee flows and pave the way for the return of Syrian refugees to their homes”.
Greece’s Minister for Migration and Asylum, Nikos Panagiotopoulos, on Thursday joined a EU Home Affairs Council meeting to discuss the voluntary return of Syrian refugees and creating a European framework for the process.
The meeting “began with a discussion on Syria where great uncertainty was noted, which does not allow much room for definitive assessments. However, we all agreed on the need to start preparing a plan for returns, voluntary at first, of any Syrian citizens who wish to return to their country,” Panagiotopoulos.said.
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