European countries pause asylum claims

LONDON: Britain paused decisions on Syrian asylum claims Monday, a govt spokesperson said after rebel forces seized Damascus over the weekend.

The UK decision comes after Germany, Austria and other European countries ordered a halt to asylum applications by Syrians after President Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia following 13 years of civil war. The war forced millions of Syrians to flee the country.

Most went to Turkiye 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. In the UK, by the end of Feb 2021, more than 20,000 Syrian refugees had been resettled under a govt scheme.