After more than 13 years of conflict, there is hope that the suffering of the people in Syria may finally end.
The last few weeks, particularly over the last few days, offer a significant turning point in the conflict and the opportunity to make meaningful progress towards a solution to the crisis.
For many Syrian refugees, this evolving situation offers hope for an eventual return to their home.
However, while this is undoubtedly a watershed moment, there is still a great deal of uncertainty. The UNHCR described the country as being at a “crossroads between peace and war, stability and lawlessness, reconstruction or further ruin”.
On a humanitarian level, there is much to rebuild. Millions of people have been displaced multiple times and are living with life-changing physical and emotional trauma. The conflict has plunged 90% of the population into poverty, destroyed critical infrastructure and cut off access to essential services.
Since 2011, more than 14 million Syrians have been forced to flee their homes in search of safety. It is the world’s biggest forced displacement crisis.
In that time, thousands of people from Syria been granted refugee protection and began to rebuild their lives across the length and breadth of Scotland.
While recent developments have given people reason to hopeful, the current security and humans rights situation in Syria demands that we must continue to offer people sanctuary.
An estimated 650 people from Syria currently have outstanding asylum applications in Scotland and their lives must not be left in endless limbo as we wait to see how the situation unfolds.
If and when the time comes, the decision for refugees to return home must be informed, voluntary, safe and dignified.
Until then, we stand alongside the Syrian people who are now much-loved members of communities across Scotland.
For years, millions of Syrians have endured many hardships.
Any hope to end that suffering is dependent on a peaceful transition in Syria and support from the international community, including to meet urgent humanitarian needs in the country.https://t.co/iRKtw0XEta pic.twitter.com/81K5QvlW95
— UNHCR United Kingdom (@UNHCRUK) December 9, 2024
Our response:
CEO Sabir Zazai said: “After everything the Syrian people have endured, we hope for a peaceful and just future for the country. We know that there is no place like home, and we hope that people will be able to return to Syria when peace and stability returns.
“At the moment, it’s clearly a hugely uncertain and chaotic time in the country. It is particularly uncertain for those Syrians in the UK who have been told that their asylum applications are now suspended. Until there is clear guidance published on the security and human rights situation in Syria, we ask that anyone affected by this suspension should as an absolute minimum retain their rights to accommodation and financial support until the government is in a position to progress their applications. The government must prioritise this and it cannot be used as an excuse to leave even more people in endless limbo, especially those who have fled the horrors and suffering of the pervious Syrian regime. Each asylum application must be considered on its own merit and its own evidence and any suspension on decision making should only be for a strictly limited time.
“This is a time to show solidarity with people from Syria, to support the individuals and families here in the UK as they come to terms with a new transition, and to stand alongside them in hope for a peaceful and stable future.”
