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Asylum still frozen in Greece despite fresh bloodshed in Syria [1]
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Date: 2025-04
Documents show the children were placed under the temporary care of their grandparents, yet no one can predict when, or if, they will receive asylum. Abdul and his wife no longer receive support because they are recognised refugees. With mounting despair, they spend their days on Lesvos comforting their grandchildren while seeking answers that no one seems able to provide.
“We are desperate,” he said. “Their father was killed; we are all these children have left.”
Returning to Syria, Abdul said, is not an option for the family. “The new leaders seem almost as bad as Assad. We’ve lost our jobs, home, and loved ones. I am old – who will care for the children? Safety, a home, and work are essential to return, and we have none,” he said.
His hope is that his grandchildren will eventually secure refugee status and travel documents. These would allow the family to join his surviving son in Germany, where the children can access further family support and have a chance at a decent life.
Repatriation dreams meet harsh realities
Since the onset of the Syrian revolution in 2011, over six million Syrians have sought refuge in neighbouring nations like Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan, EU border states such as Greece, and destination countries like Germany. Assad’s fall sparked hopes of return among the millions who had fled an oppressive dictatorship and civil war – a prospect also welcomed by European capitals like Athens.
Since December, over 350,000 Syrians are estimated to have returned, with most travelling from neighbouring countries. But in Greece, few appear ready to follow. By mid-December, only three Syrians nationwide had sought repatriation. Since then, only a small number of individuals have made requests after losing their refugee status, asylum lawyers and Greek officials said.
Most Syrian refugees say they hope to return one day, but only if key barriers – safety and access to housing, jobs, and basic services – are resolved. Over 60% consider it important to see how things are in the country before making any final decisions to return. For now, the country’s reality dashes such hopes, especially for Syrians who have made a life in Europe.
Bashar Deeb, a 35-year-old journalist, was recently confronted with this reality on a return visit to Syria. Deeb recalled that the week leading to Assad’s dramatic ouster last December had been the happiest of his life. Having left Syria in 2008 on a scholarship to study media at the University of Athens, he had not seen his homeland since 2012. “If only I could freeze those moments in a continuous loop! This was the end of a dictatorship that robbed millions of our best years.”
Two months later, driven by a longing to see his country again, Deeb flew from Athens to Damascus. At passport control, an officer told him, “Bashar, you can enter. Syria is free now.” Deeb said he wanted to embrace the officer. The rest of his ten-day journey through Syria proved bittersweet.
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[1] Url:
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-trafficking-and-slavery/asylum-still-frozen-in-greece-despite-fresh-bloodshed-in-syria-migration/
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