The UK has paused decisions on Syrian asylum claims, after the country’s President Bashar al-Assad was overthrown.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the situation was “moving extremely fast after the fall of the Assad regime” and some people were returning to Syria following recent developments.
Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied rebel factions seized control of the Syrian capital Damascus on Sunday after years of civil war.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has welcomed the end of Assad’s “barbaric regime” in Syria and called for the restoration of “peace and stability”.
Germany, France and Sweden are among the countries which have also paused all pending asylum requests from Syrians, while Austria has signalled it will soon deport refugees back to the country.
Millions of Syrians have fled the country since the civil war broke out in 2011, after Assad brutally crushed a pro-democracy uprising.
Between 2011 and 2021 more than 30,000 Syrians were granted asylum in the UK.
Most of these were resettled under humanitarian schemes set up by the Home Office and came directly from other countries they had fled to, such as Turkey and Lebanon.
However, more than 9,000 Syrians have also been picked up on the Kent coast, having crossed the Channel in small boats.
Syrians accounted for the fifth largest number of asylum claims in the year ending September 2024, according to Home Office figures.
Almost all those who requested asylum have been given the right to stay.
It was calculated that there were 47,000 Syrian nationals living in the UK in 2019, but that number is thought to have since fallen to around 30,000.
The Home Office will be hoping the end of the Assad dictatorship will see a sharp drop in the number of Syrians seeking sanctuary and that many already in Britain may now look to return to their homeland.
However, there will also be a concern that the rapid power shift in Syria might create a new wave of potential refugees.
The uncertainties around what a post-Assad Syria will be like means the Home Office will want to keep the situation under constant review.
Every asylum case must be judged on its merits and if someone who is now tainted by the Assad regime arrives in the UK and requests asylum, the Home Office must judge whether that individual is at risk of persecution or human rights violations.
Speaking in the Commons on Monday, Foreign Secretary David Lammy suggested the situation could see a new flow of people using illegal routes to come to the UK.
“Assad’s demise brings no guarantee of peace. This is a moment of danger as well as opportunity for Syrians and for the region,” he said.
“The humanitarian situation in Syria is dire, with almost 17 million people in need. Millions are refugees, largely still in neighbouring Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan.
“Seeing so many start to return to Syria is a positive sign for their hopes for a better future now that Assad is gone, but a lot depends on what happens now, this flow into Syria could quickly become a flow back out and potentially increase the numbers using dangerous illegal migration routes to Continental Europe and the United Kingdom.”
A Home Office spokesman said: “The Home Office has paused decisions on Syrian asylum claims whilst we assess the current situation.
“We keep all country guidance relating to asylum claims under constant review so we can respond to emerging issues.”
