Jack Walters
Guest Reporter
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has confirmed the UK has temporarily "paused" asylum decisions on cases from Syria.
The decision was made amid growing uncertainty in the region following the collapse of Bashar Assad's regime over the weekend.
Cooper said: "We know that the situation in Syria is moving extremely fast.
"After the fall of the Assad regime, we have seen some people returning to Syria.
"But we also have a very fast moving situation that we need to closely monitor.
"And that is why, like Germany, like France, and like other countries, we have paused asylum decisions on cases from Syria while the Home Office reviews and monitors the current situation."
Cooper's comments come after 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.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer welcomed the end of Assad's "barbaric regime" in Syria and called for the restoration of "peace and stability".
Assad, who was accused of unleashing chemical weapons against Syrians in 2013 and 2017, took over from his father to rule the Middle Eastern nation in 2000.
A 13-year long civil war culminated in Assad fleeing for Russia after rebel troops stormed Damascus on Sunday.
Germany, Austria and France were among the European nations who ordered to halt asylum applications by Syrians after millions fled the country.
Most went to Turkey and other neighbouring nations but Syrians also made up a large proportion of the more than a million people who fled to Germany and Austria during the European migration crisis of 2015 and 2016.
By the end of February 2021, more than 20,000 Syrian refugees were recorded in the UK.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Foreign Secretary David Lammy separately warned that events in Syria could trigger more migration into European states depending on what comes next in the country.
He said: "Seeing so many start to return to Syria is a positive sign for their hopes for a better future now that Assad is gone."
Lammy added: "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."
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The decision was made amid growing uncertainty in the region following the collapse of Bashar Assad's regime over the weekend.
Cooper said: "We know that the situation in Syria is moving extremely fast.
"After the fall of the Assad regime, we have seen some people returning to Syria.
"But we also have a very fast moving situation that we need to closely monitor.
"And that is why, like Germany, like France, and like other countries, we have paused asylum decisions on cases from Syria while the Home Office reviews and monitors the current situation."
Cooper's comments come after 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.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer welcomed the end of Assad's "barbaric regime" in Syria and called for the restoration of "peace and stability".
Assad, who was accused of unleashing chemical weapons against Syrians in 2013 and 2017, took over from his father to rule the Middle Eastern nation in 2000.
A 13-year long civil war culminated in Assad fleeing for Russia after rebel troops stormed Damascus on Sunday.
Germany, Austria and France were among the European nations who ordered to halt asylum applications by Syrians after millions fled the country.
Most went to Turkey and other neighbouring nations but Syrians also made up a large proportion of the more than a million people who fled to Germany and Austria during the European migration crisis of 2015 and 2016.
By the end of February 2021, more than 20,000 Syrian refugees were recorded in the UK.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Foreign Secretary David Lammy separately warned that events in Syria could trigger more migration into European states depending on what comes next in the country.
He said: "Seeing so many start to return to Syria is a positive sign for their hopes for a better future now that Assad is gone."
Lammy added: "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."
Find Out More...