Politics

Several European countries announced earlier this week that they are suspending asylum applications from Syrian citizens following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad.

Over the weekend, Syrian rebels from the Islamist group HTC captured the capital, Damascus, prompting the president to flee the country with his family, ending his 24-year rule.

In response, multiple Schengen countries, including France and Germany, declared a halt to processing asylum requests from Syrian nationals.

"To manage the surge in asylum appeals from Syrians, we are working on suspending pending asylum cases from Syria," the French Interior Ministry said on Monday.

Since the start of the conflict, over six million Syrians have fled their country, with one million granted refugee status in Germany.

Alongside Germany and France, Norway, Denmark, and Sweden have also announced a temporary pause on reviewing Syrian asylum applications.

(QG - Source: Les Échos / Picture: © Unsplash)