The Austrian government would review the status of Syrian refugees who had arrived less than five years ago, Chancellor Karl Nehammer stated.
Austria (…) is now reviewing the eligibility for protection of Syrians who have been in the country for less than 5 years.
Nehammer, who was trying to form a new coalition government, spoke sharply about the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government on 8 December. The chancellor said on the same day that the security situation in Syria should be reviewed to allow voluntary deportations there.
The government also offered 1,000 euros to those who return to Syria. Austria is also among more than a dozen European countries that have suspended the processing of Syrian asylum applications.
Austrian law allows authorities to revoke refugee status in some cases within five years of granting it. Syrians are the largest group of asylum seekers in Austria.
However, UNHCR’s Austria chief Christoph Pinter said it was “clearly premature” to start such proceedings.
They should only be initiated if the situation in the country of origin has fundamentally changed and a safe, permanent return would in fact be possible for those affected. That is definitely not the case at the moment.
News magazine Profil reported earlier on Thursday that some Syrian refugees had received letters from Austrian authorities informing them of a procedure to potentially revoke their refugee status because “the situation in the country of origin has changed.”
