Syrian asylum seekers could face deportation from Britain in the wake of Assad’s fall, the Daily Mail has learned.
The Home Office is considering a range of options to deal with thousands of Syrian nationals – many of whom arrived here by small boat across the Channel – who claim they fled the former regime.
Compulsory removals are one possibility being examined, Home Office sources said.
However, enforced removals are only likely to be possible if the situation in Syria stabilises.
The Government is also looking at whether a voluntary returns scheme – based on programmes which already exist – could be set up to encourage Syrians to go home.
‘If Syria is ruled to be a safe country we would explore all the options available, and we would treat it as we treat any other safe country,’ a Home Office source said.
‘It could be a voluntary returns scheme and there are also various deportation options.’
About 6,500 Syrian asylum claims awaiting a decision from the Home Office were put on hold on Monday.
Syrian asylum seekers could face deportation from Britain in the wake of Assad’s fall, the Daily Mail has learned (pictured:Â A group of people thought to be migrants arrive on the beach in Dungeness, Kent)
Many Syria asylum seekers arrived in the country by a small boat across the Channel – pictured is a dinghy carrying around 65 migrants
The Home Office is considering a range of options to deal with thousands of Syrian nationals
Between January and September, almost 2,900 Syrians arrived in the UK by small boat, according to official figures.
In the year to September, 3,888 Syrian asylum claims were granted by the Home Office, on top of 5,149 in the previous 12 months.
The most recent grant rate during that period – the proportion of decisions which led to asylum or another form of humanitarian protection being granted – was 99 per cent, and one of the highest of any nationality.
Existing voluntary returns schemes offer free flights and up to £3,000 per person in ‘financial support’.
It came as immigration minister Angela Eagle said the Home Office wanted to ‘facilitate’ the return of any Syrians who wish to return to their homeland.
‘We have suspended our consideration of the current asylum claims – about 6,500 – until we can see what emerges from the current situation,’ Ms Eagle told Times Radio.
‘If people wish to go home we’d certainly like to facilitate that, but I think it’s too early to say what will emerge from the events that have happened in the last few days.’
One source said the Home Office was unlikely to reassess tens of thousands of Syrians granted refugee status in recent years.
Emotional scenes in London’s Trafalgar Square as people hugged and celebrated the fall of Syrian president Bashar Assad’s government on Sunday
A tearful supporter embraces in a hug during celebrations in London’s Trafalgar Square on Sunday
People waved Syrian flags and lit green flares as chants of ‘Mabrouk’ (Congratulations) were heard in London’s Trafalgar Square on Sunday
An opposition fighter passes by a government forces tank which was left on a highway in Damascus, Syria on Sunday
Any moves to ‘claw back’ asylum status would be likely to lead to legal challenges, the insider said.Â
Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick renewed his call for immediate removals of Syrian asylum seekers and predicted would-be refugees in Britain would change the basis of their claims to reflect the new situation in their home country.
The former Tory immigration minister said: ‘This crisis will reveal the abuse of our asylum system.
‘Expect the basis of asylum claims to change as individuals try to game the system.
‘The Government should be immediately removing Syrians whose asylum claims are now groundless.’
Yesterday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) warned that countries should continue to accept asylum claims from Syrians.
Spokesman Shabia Mantoo said it was ‘acceptable’ to suspend the processing of claims while the situation in Syria remains uncertain, ‘as long as people can apply for asylum and are able to lodge asylum applications’.
She added that there should be no deportations of Syrians because it would ‘violate’ rules which prevent officials sending asylum seekers back to countries where they may face danger or ill-treatment, a principle known as ‘refoulement’.
‘No asylum-seeker should be forcibly returned, as this would violate the non-refoulement obligation on states,’ Ms Mantoo said.
The UNHCR was one of the principal opponents of the previous Conservative government’s Rwanda asylum deal, and put forward evidence in the UK courts that relocated migrants could face refoulement.
