Politico: European countries seek to reclassify Syria as a safe with the aim of deporting refugees there
Politico reported that some European countries are seeking to reclassify Syria as a “safe country” to facilitate the deportation of refugees.
Even though EU countries are still receiving thousands of Syrians fleeing the ongoing humanitarian crisis.
Politico noted that Italy and Austria are leading efforts to normalize relations with Damascus to facilitate these operations, despite warnings from international organizations that Syria is still “unsafe”.
Politico explained that other European countries are working to strengthen policies to deport irregular refugees by concluding agreements with other countries, such as France, which is seeking to reach agreements with the countries of Rwanda and Kazakhstan to deport refugees residing illegally.
As for the Dutch government, it’s studying a plan to deport rejected African asylum seekers to Uganda.
In a related context, the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, revealed that the German authorities deported 787 Syrian refugees during the first half of 2024, but the deportations weren’t directly to Syria but to other countries according to bilateral or European arrangements.
Politico pointed out that this issue has sparked great controversy within German political circles, especially with the disparity in the estimates of the number of Syrians who must leave the country and the differences in policies between German states regarding the classification of individuals as criminals.
Regarding the return of refugees to Syria, the spokeswoman for the Federal Office for Migration and Asylum in Germany confirmed that the office doesn’t support voluntary return to Syria due to the security situation there, and that the matter is subject to continuous monitoring by several parties, including the International Organization for Migration.
On the other hand, media reports indicated that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is seeking to convince European Union leaders to normalize relations with Syria in order to reduce illegal immigration to Europe.
Meloni stressed during a speech before the Italian Senate the need to review the EU’s strategy towards Syria and work to create the appropriate conditions for the return of refugees in a voluntary, safe and sustainable manner.
She also called for investing in early recovery efforts to ensure that returning refugees find an environment that helps them integrate into Syria.
Despite these efforts, UNHCR surveys show that less than 1% of Syrian refugees living in neighboring countries, such as Iraq, Jordan, Türkiye and Lebanon, plan to return to Syria within the next year.
In the same context, several European countries, including Italy, Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Greece, Slovenia and Slovakia, have called on the European Union to renew diplomatic ties with Syria.
In a similar move, Italian Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani announced before parliament that Rome intends to restore relations with Damascus in an attempt to prevent Russia from monopolizing diplomatic efforts in the region.
