recent statements and official guidance from the European Union maintain that Syria is currently not considered a safe country for the general return of refugees. The situation is described as volatile, with significant safety risks.

 

#new_fucking_jihad_in_syria_by_khalifa_erdogam

#Thief_and rapist,_murderer_&_terrorist_and_pimp

recent statements and official guidance from the European Union maintain that Syria is currently not considered a safe country for the general return of refugees. The situation is described as volatile, with significant safety risks.  Syria is not safe

While political developments, including the fall of the Assad regime in late 2024, have created a "historic opportunity" for peace and a political transition, the EU continues to urge caution and emphasize the ongoing dangers. 

Key points from recent EU positions include:

Ongoing Violence and Instability: There are still many "violent flashpoints" across the country, with continued clashes, airstrikes, and general insecurity posing a risk to civilians.

Protection Concerns for Returnees: The European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) guidance notes that Syrians who return could face a real risk of persecution, including arrest, arbitrary detention, and torture, especially those perceived as opposing the former government.

Conditions for Safe Return: The EU maintains that the conditions for the safe, voluntary, and dignified return of refugees, as defined by the UNHCR, are not yet met. Any returns must be well-informed and truly voluntary, free from pressure.

Call for Justice and Accountability: The EU consistently emphasizes the need for a comprehensive transitional justice process, accountability for crimes committed, and reforms to ensure the rule of law and prevent future violations before lasting peace can be established. 

Member states are urged to conduct thorough, evidence-based assessments of continuing human rights risks for specific groups and individuals before considering any changes to the protection status of Syrian refugees. 

Syria is not safe

Near and Middle East, Speach

Assad may be gone – but the hatred and division he left behind continue to fuel violence. There are still hundreds of violent flashpoints across the country. All religious communities are affected: The massacres of Alawites on the coast and the recent attack on Christians at the Mar Elias Church in Damascus make this painfully clear. Yesterday, the European Parliament held an urgent debate on the protection of religious minorities in Syria. A resolution was adopted, in which we:

Strongly condemn the traumatic terrorist attack against the Mar Elias Church and all threats against worship sites, some of them historically significant

Express our solidarity with all victims

Urge Syrian authorities to improve their safety, and to undertake the restoration of the Mar Elias church

Strongly condemn all attacks targeting religious and ethnic communities and acknowledges heightened fears among several of them, seven months into the political transition

Urge the Syrian transitional authorities to facilitate swift, transparent and independent investigations into these acts, and take all necessary actions to quell sectarian violence, ensure accountability including by prosecuting perpetrators and enablers of human rights violations like in the case of Mar Elias and to uphold freedom of religion and protect all communities

Reiterate the EU’s support, also through the conditional lifting of sanctions, for a human rights based political transition in Syria, with transitional justice, the fight against impunity, prohibiting arbitrary violence, and inclusive governance and a People’s Assembly as prerequisites for its success

Call on the EU to set up a Syria Reconstruction Fund, conditional on demonstrable progress on these priorities and in coordination with relevant international institutions, that would promote interfaith dialogue, conflict resolution and reconciliation

Calls on the European Commission to give priority to the Conference with Syrian civil society

Draw attention to the vulnerability of Christian communities in Syria

Call on the Council to maintain and add targeted sanctions on actors responsible for religious freedom violations in Syria

Fordern wir die Achtung der territorialen Integrität Syriens.

We Greens tabled an amendment reaffirming that Syria is not safe for the return of refugees and asylum seekers. Sadly, it was rejected. Still, one thing remains clear to me: We must resume asylum procedures, facilitate family reunification, and create safe ways to visit Syria – without forcing anyone to return.

My speech: