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| Britain |
| UK Home Office backs down on Syrian asylum-seeker's case |
| 2022-01-13 |
| [DW] In December, the Home Office sent a rejection letter to a Syrian asylum-seeker, saying it was safe for him to return. That would have been first case of its kind in the UK. Now, authorities appear to have backtracked. The case concerns a 25-year-old Syrian man who came to the UK in May 2020. He reportedly evaded forced conscription into the army in 2017 to avoid being forced to kill fellow Syrians. The man, who has not been named for his protection, has said returning to Syria would put his life in danger. He would be targeted as a draft dodger, arrested and possibly killed, he said. In its rejection letter to the man, reported by The Guardian newspaper, the Home Office said he could safely return to Syria. "I am not satisfied to a reasonable degree of likelihood that you have a well-founded fear of persecution," the Home Office wrote, according to The Guardian. In what appears to be a U-turn, the Home Office tweeted on Tuesday that "under the current circumstances we are not returning people to Syria. The UK government agrees with the UN judgement that Syria remains unsafe for them." The Home Office confirmed its statement to DW. 'FAIR BUT FIRM' In 2021, the UK introduced a major overhaul of its immigration and asylum system. Addressing Parliament In December, Home Secretary Priti Patel said the new law represented a "comprehensive, fair but firm long-term plan, which addresses the challenge of illegal migration head-on." "Asylum-seekers deemed to have arrived in the UK illegally will no longer have the same entitlements as those who arrive in the country via legal routes," Patel said. "Even if their claim is successful, they will be granted temporary refugee status and face the prospect of being indefinitely liable for removal." "Asylum seekers will be able to be removed from the UK while their asylum claim or appeal is pending, which opens the door to offshore asylum processing," she said. A WORRYING MOVE Though information on the applicant's case in question remains scant, the government's stance is a disturbing and surprising development, said Rim Turkmani, the research director for Syria with the Conflict Research Programme at the London School of Economics. Turkmani, who has given expert evidence to the UK's Foreign Affairs Select Committee on the Syria crisis, said that, although the level of violence had abated in parts of Syria, the safety of individuals was still at risk, particularly where political motives are involved. "Evading conscription in Syria after 2011 is indeed a political statement by men who refuse to join an army that is attacking civilians, committing war crimes, and where they may be positioned in posts where they have to take part in attacking civilian areas themselves. Seeking to avoid conscription puts the person at risk of detention, which, as documented by many human rights ...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... organizations, could mean torture and even death. The mere fact that this person has applied for asylum puts him at risk if he is sent back to Syria," she told DW via email. |
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