Aysu Bicer
July 15, 2025•Update: July 15, 2025
LONDON
The UK government will resume processing Syrian asylum and settlement claims, ending a pause that began last December following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime.
Border Security and Asylum Minister Dame Angela Eagle said Monday that the Home Office had acted swiftly to restore the system once accurate, evidence-based assessments were possible.
"Following the fall of the Assad regime, the Home Office paused all Syrian asylum interviews and decisions as announced to Parliament on 11 December 2024,” she said in a statement.
"This pause extended to settlement protection applications from Syrian nationals, including those who were brought to the UK under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme and have completed their five years of refugee status. During this period, we continued to register all Syrian applications," she added.
"The pause was a necessary step while there was no stable, objective information available to make robust assessments of risk on return to Syria."
She confirmed that new guidance and updated country information would now be published to enable caseworkers to resume decision-making.
“Today the government will publish updated country information which will enable decision-making to resume. With this, protection claims can be processed and safe return reviews conducted in line with published policy for any Syrian nationals applying for settlement protection,” she added.
The updated guidance notes that opponents of the former Assad regime are “unlikely to be at risk upon return to Syria solely on that basis.”
It also states that religious and ethnic minorities — including Kurds, Christians, Druze and Shia Muslims — “are unlikely to face a real risk of persecution or serious harm from the state” and that “the onus is on the person to demonstrate otherwise.”
Welcoming the move, Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council charity, said: "We know the pause in decision-making had left Syrian people trapped in further limbo, unable to work, move on with their lives and fearing for their future.”
"However, the situation in Syria continues to be unstable, and we urge the government to ensure that every asylum application is assessed on a case-by-case basis, ensuring the safety and protection of Syrians who would face extreme risk if they are returned."
