More than 13 million people were forced from their homes during the decade long conflict in Syria. Around half of those left the country, with some travelling onwards to Europe. Now that the country is transitioning to a new government many are asking whether it is time for the refugees to return home. CGTN’s Iolo ap Dafydd explains the issue.
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00:00A lot of Syrians came for the last 10 years, really, especially, but since 2011, since the beginning of this civil war,
00:06I think that 10 of the countries have said that they are either freezing the asylum process for the time being,
00:13given what's happened in Syria, and only Austria has decided that they're looking to deport or repatriate,
00:21which is the nicer phrase, Syrians back to Syria.
00:25Germany, first of all, the biggest number, about a million, at least three quarters of a million there officially,
00:33Syrians live in Germany, and they're also talking about freezing applications.
00:39So probably around 47,000 Syrians who are looking for asylum applications in Germany, that's now been frozen.
00:47There are the rise of far-right parties, especially with an election looming in Germany.
00:53This has been a political issue, as it has in many, many countries, actually, in Europe and outside.
00:58Austria has gone further, and it may affect 7,500 people who are hoping to have asylum applications.
01:07So not only looking at freezing it, but possibly being asked to leave Austria.
01:12So another hardline right-wing attitude in Austria, because there's a new government there.
01:18And also, interestingly, the new commissioner in the European Union is also from Austria on migration.
01:26France, the UK, Sweden, Greece, Netherlands, Belgium, all of them now are looking again at this policy.
01:33And in terms of Yvette Cooper, the interior minister, the Home Secretary in the UK,
01:39also a socialist government, a Labour government, but they're following the same procedure.
01:44They're freezing the applications, even though there's a far lower number of Syrians who have actually found home here in the UK.
01:52There are, though, still millions of Syrian refugees. Where have they ended up?
01:57The figures are astounding. It's still one of the biggest crises for refugees and migrants in the world,
02:05according to the UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency. It is one of the biggest.
02:09And when you look at the figures, more than seven million, seven and a half million people displaced inside Syria.
02:16Six and a half, six to six and a half million people have left Syria.
02:20That's more than half the population, far more than half the population of Syria that have been moved because of the last 13, 14 years of war.
02:29And most of them have gone to neighbouring countries. Turkey, more than three million, one million, as we just saw in Lebanon,
02:37but also in Jordan, also in Egypt and in Iraq, there's a large Syrian diaspora.
02:43So what happens to these people? Do they go back? And, you know, attitudes have hardened in those countries as well, especially in Turkey.
02:51It's been a political, divisive issue in Turkey where now they're trying to move people back.
02:57We saw people were voluntarily trying to get back into northern Syria yesterday.
03:01But in Lebanon, one in four, one in five of the population are Syrian refugees.
03:07So that's why we're seeing this move of people. And, of course, those countries are possibly trying to push them out of the country.