Barely a day after Bashar al-Assad fled Damascus, several European countries announced they were suspending ongoing asylum claims from Syrians.
Among the first to act was Germany, which has granted refugee status to more than 712,000 Syrians since 2011 and is home to Europe’s largest Syrian diaspora.
Sweden, Norway, Italy, Denmark and Austria soon followed with immigration authorities declaring that they have paused the asylum process for Syrians.
France has taken a similar position, with OFPRA, the French office for the protection of refugees (Office français de protection des réfugiés et apatrides) declaring that it is “closely monitoring the situation in Syria” and is “temporarily suspending decision-making on certain asylum requests from Syrian citizens”.
There are currently 80,000 Syrian refugees in France, including minors and reunified families, according to the French Office for Immigration and Integration (OFII). FRANCE 24 spoke to three Syrian refugees in France who said it was too early to consider going home. Others said they had begun new lives in Europe and did not want to be uprooted again.
Lubna Alkanawati, Syrian feminist and executive director of Women Now for Development
I am originally from Damascus, but I grew up in Eastern Ghouta, an eastern suburb of Damascus. I lived under siege for several years until I had to flee the area at the end of 2014 to Turkey. After seven years in Turkey, I sought asylum in France and arrived here in 2021.
I was shocked and in disbelief [upon learning Assad had fallen]. It took me a while to fully grasp the significance of that moment – [I felt a mix of] hope, relief, and a sense of achievement for all our sacrifices, activism, and efforts over the years.
Unfortunately, Syria is not yet safe for everyone. While some areas have seen a reduction in fighting, it remains unsafe with ongoing violence, repression, and human rights violations, particularly in the northeast. Issues like mass destruction, detainees, and an unclear political situation contribute to the ongoing instability.
It is too early to speak for everyone. People have complex feelings, and their lives are complicated. I haven’t even decided what to do myself. There’s nothing clear on the ground in Syria. People will only consider returning if there are clear improvements like services, schools for children, hospitals, and political stability.
Yazan Hawash, entrepreneur
I was born in the Yarmouk refugee camp outside Damascus. The camp was considered the capital of the Palestinian diaspora [in Syria] before the war reduced it to rubble. I came to France in 2013 to study with a Syrian passport that was valid for 11 months. I had a student visa and an OFII visa in my first year here. When I tried to renew my visa, the préfecture (authorities) said they needed to see a new passport. When I contacted the Syrian Embassy to renew it, they said I should go back to Syria. Yarmouk was not safe at this time. The préfecture suggested applying for asylum with OFPRA. By 2014, I had refugee status.
I’m celebrating the fall of Assad’s regime because we have a new Syria. I want Syria to be one country for all the communities (Sunnis, Alawites, Christians, Druze, Kurds). To build a new Syria that includes all these communities, the country should be secular.
Even if Syria is safe for everyone, there is no infrastructure. If the refugees from Europe arrive, they will need hospitals, schools, oil, water, a lot of things. Even the half of the Syrian population that didn’t leave Syria doesn’t have these necessities. [According to the UN, 13 million people – over half of Syria’s pre-war population – have been displaced since the start of the civil war in 2011.]
As an entrepreneur, Syria needs me, and it is a large country with a lot of business opportunities. If I feel I can be safe and have the same living standards as in France, I will go.
Moulham Aboukheir, filmmaker
I’m part of the Druze minority. I was born and I grew up in Damascus. A professor with an association changed my life when he helped me get a spot in a French university. I left for Beirut in January 2014, and I arrived in France in March 2014. The préfecture gave me refugee status the following year and I eventually acquired French nationality.
When Assad’s regime collapsed, I was in shock for an entire week. I couldn’t believe it was true. I think Syria is becoming a safer place every day. Yesterday schools opened, today banks opened and tomorrow the airport will open.
I hope the new rulers of Syria won’t be too Islamic, so we won’t have another reason to flee the country. I feel as French today as I feel Syrian; both are my countries. For 10 years, I had the weight of my family who I left behind in Damascus on my shoulders. I always thought, “what will happen if one of them gets sick or dies? They are so far away from me, and I can’t go back.” The day Ahmed al-Sharaa (the leader of Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, better known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani) came, I felt relieved and happy I left my family in Syria. Now I feel like any expatriate. I can plan my next summer vacation in Syria, just like my international colleagues.
*Interviews have been edited for clarity.