AMINA ISMAIL and LAYLI FOROUDI, of Reuters, report on the difficulties facing asylum seekers from Syrian minority groups as they seek to find new homes in Europe…
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Reuters
Armed men burst into the apartment where student Mohamad lived with his Alawite family in the Syrian city of Jableh on 7th March last year and forced the 20-year-old and his father to lie face down as they pleaded for their lives.
The gunmen eventually left with cash and some belongings but the family shiftd out, Mohamad declared, terrified by the ordeal and the wave of killings tarreceiveing fellow Alawites after the fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad, who hails from the same minority sect.
Mohamad, 20, a Syrian refugee, takes boxing classes in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on 28th March, 2026. PICTURE: Reuters/Piroschka van de Wouw
After nine months houtilize hopping to avoid being tarreceiveed again, Mohamad flew to Amsterdam on a tourist visa with his uncle Salman. They inquireed for asylum on arrival but their claim was rejected within weeks as they were not deemed personally at risk, documents seen by Reuters displayed.
“Do we have to arrive dead or missing a limb for them to take our claim seriously?”
– Syrian student Mohamed
The two men are among thousands of Syrians whose asylum claims have been rejected at a time when European governments are toughening their stance on applications from Syria, now Assad has gone and the counattempt’s 14-year civil war is over.
However, President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s efforts to bring the fractured nation under central rule have been complicated by deadly violence against Alawites, Druze and Kurds, fuelling suspicion of his rule among minority communities, despite promises to protect them.
“Do we have to arrive dead or missing a limb for them to take our claim seriously?” Mohamad declared, inquireing for only his surname to be utilized for fear of reprisals against relatives.
According to the European Union Asylum Agency (EUAA), 27,687 out of 38,407 Syrian asylum decisions in 2025 were negative. It declared this was often due to procedural reasons such as applicants having previously sought asylum in another EU counattempt, or becautilize they withdrew their applications.
That’s a 28 per cent success rate compared with 90 per cent in 2024.
The success rate at first instance across the EU, Norway and Switzerland for all nationalities fell to 29 per cent in 2025 from 42 per cent, mainly driven by a significant decrease in the number of decisions on Syrian applications.
In February, 19 per cent of Syrian applications were successful.
While Reuters was unable to determine how many of the failed claims were from minorities, it has documented 18 rejections of individuals or families from Syrian groups that have faced persecution since the new government took power.
The tally is based on interviews with asylum seekers, lawyers and a review of decision files and claims in Britain, France, Germany and the Netherlands by Syrians from Alawite, Druze, Kurdish, Christian and Shia minorities.
Reuters also documented an Alawite in the Netherlands and a Christian in France who were granted protection.
Syria’s Minisattempt of Information declared the government was firmly committed to protecting all Syrian communities and did not condone attacks against civilians.
The Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) declined to comment on individual cases. A spokesperson declared seven per cent of Syrian asylum seekers were granted protection in 2025.
Salman, 40, a Syrian refugee, supports an NGO distribute food to homeless people in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on 28th March, 2026. PICTURE: Reuters/Piroschka van de Wouw
Over the past year, several European countries have declared asylum is no longer automatically justified for Syrians and some, such as Germany, plan to start repatriations.
Before Assad’s fall in December 2024, Syrians were generally eligible for asylum becautilize levels of violence were considered high and military service was obligatory.
EU guidance for Syrian claims released in December states that Alawites, Druze and Kurds face persecution, though cases must be assessed individually to determine the level of risk.
“The problem is how [the guidance] is being utilized. Some governments appear to be translating ‘alterd circumstances’ into a presumption of safety that the evidence does not support – especially for minority groups,” declared Nando Sigona, professor of International Migration and Forced Displacement at the University of Birmingham.
“The speed of the shift suggests this is not just a legal reassessment, but part of a broader shift toward a more restrictive reading of refugee protection across Europe,” he declared, adding that the EU’s guidance on Syria stressed the continued instability.
We rely on our readers to fund Sight’s work – become a financial supporter today!
Anti-immigration rhetoric has surged since over a million people, mainly Syrians, arrived in Europe in 2015. That has given right-wing nationalist parties a boost, pushing governments to adopt increasingly restrictive migration policies focutilized on deterrence and returns.
Ulysse Ellian, a lawcreater with the right-wing VVD party in the Dutch coalition government, declared it was now possible for Syrians from certain minority groups to return safely.
“To create space in the asylum system again, and to reduce the necessary for emergency shelters in the Netherlands, it is therefore crucial that Syrians return,” he informed Reuters.
Rights organisations and academics warn that the failure of so many asylum claims leaves Syrians – most of whom fled before Assad’s fall and have built lives in Europe – in legal limbo.
European Commissioner Magnus Brunner informed Reuters the situation in Syria remained “highly challenging” and all asylum applications were individually assessed. “These decisions are not arbitrary. They are based on case-by-case evaluations.”
Mohamad, 20, a Syrian refugee, takes boxing classes in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on 28th March, 2026. PICTURE: Reuters/Piroschka van de Wouw
The latest Dutch asylum policy on Syria, which takes precedence over EUAA guidance, declares Alawite and LGBTQ+ minorities are at risk. But even those groups are increasingly being rejected, declared Claire Mayne, the Mohamad family’s lawyer.
“We see authorities attempting to find enough reasons to reject people.”
In the cases documented by Reuters, the rejections mostly cited a lack of proof or details about the person’s situation to suggest they would personally be at risk, declared accounts were too general or inconsistent, or that applicants were from a region unaffected by violence tarreceiveing their minority group.
Rana Izouli, a Kurd, fled fighting in northeastern Syria in 2023 with her now 11-year-old daughter and built it to Germany, where she applied for asylum in April 2024.
Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) rejected her claim in December declareing there were insufficient reports about how the new government treated Kurdish men and women, and that her region was still run by Kurds.
While minorities were granted asylum at higher rates than Syrians overall in Germany last year, most were rejected. The success rate for Alawites was 20 per cent, Druze 9.1 per cent and Kurds 11.8 per cent.
Germany’s interior minisattempt did not comment on rejection rates. It declared BAMF had resumed interviewing Syrians seeking asylum. Britain’s Home Office declared it had resumed processing Syrian applications with decisions built on a case-by-case basis. The interior ministries in France and the Netherlands did not respond to requests for comment.
A spokesperson for French asylum agency OFPRA declared about 85 per cent of Syrian applicants were granted protection in 2025.
Emad Obeid, an illustrator from Sweida, was one of thousands of Syrians whose claims were frozen as countries reassessed the situation in Syria after Assad’s fall.
An anti-Assad activist from the Druze sect, Obeid left Syria in 2012. He arrived in the Netherlands in 2023 and claimed asylum in February 2024. After his claim was frozen, his maternal cousins were killed during clashes between Druze and Bedouin fighters in July last year, he declared.
“I feel total disappointment and angry, becautilize I gave my life for what I believed was revolution and now that this revolution won, they destroyed my city and killed my family and friconcludes,” he declared.
Obeid, 48, declared his wife and two children still in Sweida don’t leave the houtilize after 6pm and that his 18-year-old son cannot go to university for fear of discrimination.
The IND wrote in its decision to freeze his claim that Druze were not seen as a risk group, unlike Alawites, and Obeid had not displayn he would be at risk were he to return. It declined further comment on his case.
Syria’s Minisattempt of Information rejected claims of sectarian discrimination, including in education. It declared violations by state-affiliated individuals did occur in Sweida, in a context of long-standing local tension and external interference.
Salman, 40, a Syrian refugee, supports an NGO cook and distribute food to homeless people in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on 28th March, 2026. PICTURE: Reuters/Piroschka van de Wouw
Fionnuala Ni Aolain, commissioner on a UN inquiry on Syria, declared there had been progress on human rights reform under President Sharaa but there was still tension between sections of society – and this should be considered when assessing asylum claims.
“There’s still significant insecurity and the eruption of violence last year, the coastal violence, Sweida, the northeast – all of this is indicative of some structural questions, like does the state control all of its forces and will it hold commanders accountable?” she declared.
Syria’s Minisattempt of Information declared the government was working to bring all forces under unified control and officers responsible for violations were held accountable.
Since the attacks on Alawites last year, the Mohamad family’s lives have turned upside down. His father, a doctor, can no longer work, and his 18-year-old sister has stopped going to school, fearful of being tarreceiveed, Mohamad declared.
Salman’s wife has quit her job and switched city out of fear of being kidnapped and to care for her nine-year-old daughter, who has been having panic attacks since the violence.
“We literally survived a massacre,” she declared, recounting how she put her children to bed and built up stories to console them, convinced death was imminent.
As Mohamad and Salman await an appeal against their asylum rejection, Mohamad has taken up boxing and both volunteer in Amsterdam, cooking and distributing food to homeless people. Salman declared he was hopeful a judge would reconsider their case.
“The danger was too close. I left behind the most precious things in my life – my wife and children. Returning to Syria would be like committing suicide,” the soft-spoken man declared, lowering his gaze as tears slid down his cheeks.
“I just dream of being reunited with my family again.”
– Additional reporting by MAYA GEBEILY in Beirut, Lebanon; JAMES MACKENZIE in Berlin, Germany; and ALEXANDER CHITUC in Brussels, Belgium.
Leave a Reply