Europe asks: Is it time for Syria’s refugees to go home?
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Days after Syria’s autocratic ruler fled the country, European politicians have reignited the debate over the region’s decade-old refugee crisis. On Monday, Germany and Austria said they were putting asylum applications by Syrians on hold.
Others, including Denmark, Sweden, Finland and the U.K. have followed suit. In Austria, Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said he had instructed officials to “prepare an orderly repatriation and deportation program" for Syrians.
Family reunification for accepted Syrian refugees had also been suspended, he said. Since hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers began streaming into Europe in 2015, Syrians have made up the largest single group almost every year. Now officials and experts are wondering whether the end might be in sight for a refugee crisis that never fully abated.
“No country has received as many Syrians in the European Union as Germany… So far this year, the vast majority of those who got protection were Syrians," said Gerald Knaus, head of the European Stability Initiative, a Berlin-based think tank, and an author on migration and international conflicts, “So this could be a potential major turning point and game-changer." The political impact could be far-reaching: The refugee crisis scrambled Europe’s politics, strengthening hitherto fringe anti-immigration parties from Germany to France, the Netherlands, Sweden or Finland, strained host countries’ public finances, and raised concerns about infiltration by foreign criminals and terrorists. In a sign of the pressure weighing on mainstream politicians, some say Syrians should be encouraged to leave now, without waiting for the situation in the country to stabilize. Jens Spahn, a lawmaker
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