Now EU countries also want to send refugees back to dictator Assad

More than 300,000 people have fled to Syria since Israel launched its war against Hezbollah in Lebanon. Three-quarters of them are refugees from the Syrian civil war. In Europe, for some, this is enough proof that the country is safe again.

Remo Hess, Brussels/ch media

The Syrian civil war has lasted for nearly 14 years, and its results have been devastating: more than 500,000 people have been killed. 90% of the population lives in poverty. Fourteen million people had to leave their homes. Among them, about 5.5 million people fled to neighboring countries such as Türkiye, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt.

Lebanon is currently at war. The country is home to 770,000 Syrians, with Syrian refugees accounting for the largest number of the population. As a result, more than 300,000 people have fled back to Syria in just a few weeks since Israel attacked Hezbollah. Three-quarters of them are Syrian.

Several EU countries set up safe zones in Syria

In Brussels, people are taking this as an opportunity to think about how to treat Syrian refugees. More than a million Syrians have arrived in Europe since the war. The majority of them (approximately 800,000 people) live in Germany. Overall, asylum seekers from Syria have higher levels of recognition in the EU.

Back in July, eight EU countries, including Austria, Greece, Cyprus and Croatia, recommended rethinking Europe's stance on Syria and making expulsions possible. At a summit of EU heads of state and government in mid-October, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer declared that Syria was now “proven safe in many areas” when referring to Lebanese refugees. Italy and the Netherlands also want to deport more refugees to the civil war country.

As a result, the debate raged. Discussions on Wednesday in the powerful EU Council of Permanent Ambassadors also made this clear. Member states therefore agree that the EU should support voluntary returns to Syria. So far, it has only concerned Syrian refugees in neighboring countries and explicitly involved voluntary returnees. But the taboo on returns in Europe is becoming increasingly unstable.

He gassed his people and can only stay in power with Russian military assistance: Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad (left) visits Russian President Vladimir Putin in October 2015.Photo: Alexei Druzhnin/AP

Anyone who wants to encourage returns relies on dictator Assad

The EU wants to work with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to improve repatriation conditions in Syria. Specifically, building infrastructure in the war-torn country. UNHCR estimates that more than $320 million will be needed by March 2025 to provide hundreds of thousands of returnees with basic needs, such as shelter and food.

The problem: Since 2011, the EU has severed all diplomatic ties with the regime of dictator Bashar al-Assad. Damascus was declared an international pariah and the country was hit by a strict network of sanctions. Investments by Western companies and actors in Syria are strictly prohibited. Only a small amount of humanitarian emergency assistance is allowed.

In order to facilitate the return of Syrians, it is necessary to establish a certain level of relations with the authorities, even if only at the local level. The European Commission therefore proposed the appointment of a new special envoy for Syria. Many EU countries welcomed the move while warning against legitimizing the Assad regime in any way.

In the current political and military situation, doubts remain as to whether repatriation to Syria is possible except on a voluntary basis. There are frequent hostilities between the Syrian armed forces, Kurdish rebels and Islamist groups, resulting in civilian casualties and large-scale refugee flows. Returnees are also considered political opponents by the Assad regime due to their previous escapes and must face persecution, torture and arrest. In early October, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) also decided that the classification of “safe country of origin” can refer to the entire national territory, not just individual regions. (aargauerzeitung.ch)

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