Europe Begins to Ask if Syrians Can Go Home After al-Assad’s Fall

Just hours after President Bashar al-Assad boarded a plane for Russia on Sunday, thousands of Syrians who had fled to escape his rule and the civil war to unseat him celebrated in the streets across Germany.

The political reaction in Berlin came nearly as quickly. By Monday, far-right and even some mainstream politicians were calling for the return of some of the nearly one million Syrians who have made Germany home.

“Many refugees who have found protection in Germany are now finally hopeful of being able to return to their Syrian homeland and rebuild their country,” said Nancy Faeser, the German interior minister, who is responsible for refugees.

Several European countries, including Britain, Germany, Greece, Italy and Sweden, swiftly announced that they would temporarily suspend legal proceedings considering asylum status for Syrians. Austria went a step further and announced that it would also prepare to deport Syrians whose claims for asylum fail.

The primary reason cited by the various authorities was that the Assad regime from which the asylum seekers had fled no longer exists. For now, they added, it was unclear whether Syria would remain as oppressive and as unsafe as before.