EU state explains refusal to change Syrian refugee rules

Lithuania says it has only one pending asylum request from a Syrian national and there is no need to review the legislation

Lithuania is not a popular destination for Syrian refugees and sees no need to change its asylum rules in the wake of the collapse of the Bashar Assad government, the head of the Baltic country’s Migration Department, Evelina Gudzinskaite, has said.

Speaking to LRT Radio on Wednesday, Gudzinskaite revealed that fewer than 300 Syrians hold refugee status in the country, with just one pending asylum request currently being considered. No uptick in asylum requests has been observed recently, and therefore “there’s no need to suspend the processing of the applications.”

“Unlike most of Europe, where Syrians make up the majority of asylum seekers, Lithuania currently has just one Syrian asylum request. This is really not an issue for us right now,” Gudzinskaite stated.

The vast majority of Syrians registered in the country are actually residing elsewhere in the EU “and return here only to renew their residence permits,” the official revealed. “Overall, fewer than 300 Syrians in Lithuania hold refugee or subsidiary protection status, and a total of almost 400 Syrians have residence permits,” she added. 

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Vilnius will continue to monitor the situation in Syria following the rebel takeover, and should the situation improve and “if peace is established and it’s safe to return, we can then reassess the asylums granted,” Gudzinskaite stated.

“Right now, the situation in Syria is very unstable. We have to see what kind of regime takes hold, whether the new government truly aims for peace, or if there will still be groups facing persecution,” the official explained.

Multiple EU states have scrambled to reassess their refugee rules for Syrians and suspend asylum requests after the toppling of the Assad government by militants. According to media reports, Germany and Austria have already halted visa processing for Syrians, with the move likely to affect over 47,000 pending applications in Germany alone. 

Assorted militants, including Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) jihadists and US-backed Free Syrian Army fighters, seized control of Damascus on Sunday following a swift advance across the country. The Syrian Army collapsed and dispersed, with the now-former President Bashar Assad and his family fleeing to Russia, where they have been granted asylum