Syrian asylum claims will be processed again after months of limbo
Syrians who have endured months of limbo can finally have their asylum claims processed, the Government has announced.
Applications were paused after the fall of the brutal Assad regime in December. But asylum minister Dame Angela Eagle has confirmed decision making can resume.
It comes as Syrian refugees visited Parliament to urge the Government to resume processing amid ongoing uncertainty about the new regime. Fareed Fakhoury, who is currently seeking asylum, said ahead of an event hosted by Asylum Matters: 'This uncertainty has gnawed away at our mental health - my wife and four boys bear the scars of war and displacement, and now we're forced to relive that anxiety here, day after day.
'Planning for the future feels like trying to build on quicksand. Legal support is out of reach so far, my children's education is on shaky ground, and we're shut out from society in ways big and small."
Mum-of-three Afraa Hashem, a survivor of detention and the war in Aleppo, said: "Although I'm physically safe, the instability in my home country weighs heavily on me."
READ MORE: Keir Starmer to have secretive catch-up with Donald Trump during Scotland golfing holiday
Haytham Alhamwi, Chairman of the Syrian British Consortium said: "Behind every delayed case is a person, often a family, living in limbo, unable to move forward with their lives. Many have already built their lives in the UK, contributing to their communities and calling this country home."
In December despot Bashar al-Assad, who had ruled Syria with an iron fist, fled to Russia leaving a vacuum in his wake. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper paused processing asylum cases so the Government could see what happened next.
In an update to MPs, Dame Angela said: "This was a necessary step while there was no stable, objective information available to make robust assessments of risk on return to Syria. The Home Office has worked to lift the pause as soon as there was sufficient information to make accurate and well-evidenced determinations.
"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."
The decision has been welcomed by human rights groups. Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said: 'We welcome the Government restarting decision making on Syrians' asylum applications. 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.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Record
10 minutes ago
- Daily Record
Lanarkshire MSP welcomes Scottish Government's decision to abolish peak-time rail fares
The move, which will take effect from September, is expected to bring significant benefits to commuters in Lanarkshire and across the country. A Lanarkshire MSP has welcomed the Scottish Government's decision to abolish peak-time rail fares across Scotland. The move, which will take effect from September, is expected to bring significant benefits to commuters in Lanarkshire and across the country. The decision has been made with the hope of encouraging more people to choose sustainable travel options, helping to support Scotland's wider environmental goals. The initiative follows the success of a national pilot programme which saw peak fares temporarily removed on ScotRail services. The trial was met with strong public support and demonstrated the positive impact such a policy could have—both in terms of affordability and accessibility. Motherwell and Wishaw MSP Clare Adamson said: 'I am absolutely delighted that the Scottish Government is making the removal of peak-time ScotRail fares permanent. 'This is a truly transformational step toward a fairer, greener, and more affordable public transport system. "It's a move that will be warmly welcomed by many of my constituents across Motherwell and Wishaw who rely on the train to get to work, education, and essential services. 'The high cost of travelling during peak hours has placed an unfair burden on people already grappling with the cost-of-living crisis. This change offers real, tangible relief for households and makes sustainable travel a more viable option for many. 'Encouraging more people to use our rail network is a win for commuters, a win for the economy, and a win for the environment. Scrapping peak fares removes a long-standing barrier to access, and I'm proud to support this step forward in making Scotland's public services fairer and more inclusive. 'I've heard directly from constituents who benefited from the pilot scheme, many of whom spoke of how it improved their daily lives. This decision reflects a government listening to the public and acting in their best interest with meaningful, progressive change.'
North Wales Chronicle
12 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Defence Secretary offers ‘sincere apology' for leak of Afghans' personal data
Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge also apologised on behalf of the former Conservative government, who were in power when the leak occurred and when it was discovered more than a year later. Their apologies came after a superinjunction was lifted on Tuesday, which had prevented the media from reporting the data breach. Mr Healey told the Commons: 'This serious data incident should never have happened. 'It may have occurred three years ago under the previous government, but to all those whose information was compromised, I offer a sincere apology today on behalf of the British Government, and I trust the shadow defence secretary, as a former defence minister, will join me.' Mr Cartlidge, who was a minister in August 2023 when the then-government became aware of the data breach, mirrored this sentiment. He said: 'The Secretary of State has issued an apology on behalf of the Government and I join him in that and in recognising that this data leak should never have happened and was an unacceptable breach of all relevant data protocols. 'And I agree it is right that an apology is issued specifically to those whose data was compromised.' A dataset containing the personal information of nearly 19,000 people who applied for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap) was released 'in error' in February 2022 by a defence official. Arap was responsible for relocating Afghan nationals who had worked for or with the UK Government and were therefore at risk of reprisals once the Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) only became aware of the breach over a year after the release, when excerpts of the dataset were anonymously posted onto a Facebook group in August 2023. The Government sought a court order to prevent details of the breach being published and was granted a superinjunction, which also stopped the fact an injunction had been made from being reported. The leak resulted in the creation of a secret Afghan relocation scheme – the Afghanistan Response Route (ARR) – in April 2024. Between 80,000 and 100,000 people, including family members of the Arap applicants, were affected by the breach and could be at risk of harassment, torture or death if the Taliban obtained their data, judges said in June 2024. However an independent review, commissioned by the Government in January 2025, concluded last month that the data loss was 'unlikely to profoundly change the existing risk profile of individuals named'. Around 4,500 people, made up of 900 Arap applicants and approximately 3,600 family members, have been brought to the UK or are in transit so far through the Afghanistan Response Route. A further estimated 600 people and their relatives are expected to be relocated before the scheme closes, with a total of around 6,900 people expected to be relocated by the end of the scheme. The ARR is understood to have cost around £400 million so far, with a projected cost of around £850 million, once completed. Mr Healey told MPs that he had been 'deeply uncomfortable to be constrained from reporting to this House' as he referred to the superinjunction, which was made at the High Court in September 2023 to reduce the risk of alerting the Taliban to the existence of the data breach. He added that the safety of Afghans who were at risk from the leak had weighed 'heavily' on him. The Defence Secretary said: 'I would have wanted to settle these matters sooner, because full accountability to Parliament and freedom of the press matter deeply to me. They're fundamental to our British way of life. 'However, lives may have been at stake, and I've spent many hours thinking about this decision. Thinking about the safety and the lives of people I will never meet, in a far-off land, in which 457 of our servicemen and women lost their lives. 'So this weighs heavily on me, and it's why no Government could take such decisions lightly, without sound grounds and hard deliberations.' He assured MPs that the MoD has taken steps to prevent another such data breach happening again. He said: 'This data leak was just one of many from the Afghan schemes at the time. 'And what I can say is that since the election, in this last year, we as a Government have appointed a new chief information officer. 'We have installed new software to securely share data, and we have also completed a comprehensive review of the legacy Afghan data on the casework system.' The minister said 'one can never say never', but added that he is 'more confident than I was 12 months ago about the reduced risk of data losses and data breaches in future'. Chairman of the defence committee Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi told the Commons: 'This whole data breach situation is a mess and is wholly unacceptable.' The Labour MP added that he is 'minded to recommend to my defence committee colleagues that we thoroughly investigate, to ascertain what has actually transpired here, given the serious ramifications on so many levels'.
North Wales Chronicle
12 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
MPs call for sanctions over British man detained in Dubai for 17 years
The group of 15 parliamentarians, led by Sir Iain Duncan Smith, said the case of Ryan Cornelius was a 'flagrant example of arbitrary detention and abuse of power' as they asked David Lammy to publicly call for his release. Mr Cornelius, now 71, was detained for 10 years in 2008 as part of a bank fraud case, and the detention was extended by 20 years in 2018. A UN working group has found he is subject to arbitrary detention and last week the European Parliament passed a resolution condemning his detention in 'inhumane conditions' and calling for his 'immediate and unconditional release'. After the European Parliament resolution, Sir Iain and his colleagues asked Mr Lammy to 'immediately clarify the Government's position on Mr Cornelius's case and confirm what steps you will now take to press for his release'. Specifically, they asked whether the Government would make 'strong representations to the UAE on his behalf', publicly call for his release and impose 'targeted' sanctions on those responsible for his detention. They said: 'The UK has a moral and legal duty to act, as well as a diplomatic responsibility to defend its citizens abroad from such mistreatment. 'We urge the Government to act with the utmost urgency to secure his release.' Sir Iain said it was 'vital' for the Government to take 'decisive action' to secure Mr Cornelius's release. Foreign Office minister Hamish Falconer has previously said the Government would 'continue to highlight their concerns' in talks with the UAE and was providing Mr Cornelius with consular assistance, while it took reports of human rights violations 'very seriously'. But the UK's response to his detention has been criticised by Mr Cornelius's wife Heather and brother-in-law Chris Pagett. They said: 'For more than 17 years, we have had nothing but defensive waffle from the British Foreign Office. 'The European Parliament has made a strong and direct call to the UAE for Ryan's release within months of our taking his case to them. 'The contrast is shameful. The British people deserve better.' It is understood that the Government is supporting Mr Cornelius's application for clemency, and the issue was raised by the Foreign Secretary during a trip to the UAE in December last year.
