Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
As it happens7:06 a.mAustria’s threat to deport Syrians is more rhetoric than reality, says a refugee advocate
Lukas Gahleitner-Gertz’s refugee advocacy organization has received many panicked calls from Syrians living in Austria.
That’s because the country has threatened to start sending Syrians back to their country of origin now that the rebels have toppled Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
“Many of them are wondering if they can be deported immediately,” said Gahleitner-Gertz, a legal expert at Asylkoordination Österreich. As it happens the host Nil Köksal.
“We try to calm people down.”
Austria is one of several European countries that have paused asylum applications from Syria until a clearer picture emerges about the country’s political future.
Canada, which has not seen the same influx as its European counterparts, will continue to process claims as they come in, says Immigration Minister Marc Miller.
Austria promises ‘orderly return and deportation’
Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Croatia, Norway, Poland and Sweden have also temporarily stopped issuing decisions on asylum applications from Syrians, citing developments in the war-torn country. France is considering a similar move.
Gahleitner-Gertz says that’s to be expected. Asylum claims, he says, must be based on facts. Right now, with a power vacuum in Syria, that’s hard to come by.
But Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner went a step further, saying on Tuesday: “I have instructed the ministry to prepare an orderly program of return and deportation to Syria.”
Karner offered no further details on what that would look like or who would be affected.
Gahleitner-Gertz says there is no legal basis for mass deportations.
“It’s kind of a show that’s more of a signal to its own constituency, but it’s not so much about reality,” he said.
“(They’re saying,) ‘We don’t want these people. We want them back. We don’t want more people coming.’ And that creates a climate of fear.”
LOOK | What the future holds for Syria:
The Syrian government collapsed early Sunday. CBC’s Briar Stewart explains what happened and what it could mean for the future of the country and the conflict in the Middle East.
That fear is palpable in Austria’s Syrian communities, says Abdulkheem Alshater of the Free Syrian Community Austria, an organization that helps integrate Syrians into the country.
“A lot of people are afraid of deportation,” he told CBC via the messaging app, translated from German.
Alshater, 43, fled Homs, Syria, nine years ago after taking part in demonstrations against the Assad regime.
He says he and his fellow Syrians in Austria are celebrating the fall of Assad, a president he says brutally terrorized and imprisoned his own people for years, and the emptying of the well-known prisons in Syria where many opponents of the regime were arrested and tortured.
But just because Assad is no longer in power doesn’t mean Syria is safe, he said. The country is still suffering the effects of more than a decade of war.
He says it’s not yet clear who will be in charge, what will become of the people who worked for the Assad regime or what kind of political system will eventually emerge.
“Syrians will return when there is a free democracy,” he said.
LISTEN | A former detainee on the emptying of Syrian prisons:
As it happens7:55 a.mFormer Syrian detainee ‘overwhelmed with joy’ as rebels free prisoners
When rebels opened the doors of Syria’s notorious Sednaya prison, Omar Alshogre celebrated. Alshogre, a former Sednaya detainee now living in Sweden, spoke to As It Happens guest host Peter Armstrong about what he calls “the worst place mankind has ever created.”
Amloud Alamir, a Syrian journalist in Berlin, agrees.
She works for Amal Berlin, a news site that reports in Arabic, Ukrainian and Dari/Farsi for the German city’s refugee and immigrant population.
She says many Syrians believe the pressure to return is “premature and ignores the realities on the ground in Syria,” which includes warring factions and their international supporters with competing interests and ideologies.
“The fall of the Assad regime represents a major political change, and is of great importance to our future as Syrians. We could not have imagined it, tears mixed with laughter. Finally, we are free from the Assad family and this fascist regime,” he told CBC in a voice memo.
“But establishing a peaceful and democratic Syria is not easy.”
The International Refugee Committee, a humanitarian aid organization, is urging countries not to force Syrians to return against their will.
“Events in Syria are devastating evidence that humanitarian misery, mass displacement and widespread killing are not the basis for a sustainable state,” said David Miliband, president of the organisation. said in a press release.
“We call on all countries where Syrians live as refugees to uphold the principle of safe and voluntary return. Syria needs its people, in all their variety, but it must be their choice.”
More rhetoric than reality, says the legal expert
Gahleitner-Gertz says Austria’s deportation threats are more rhetoric than reality.
Syrian refugees in Austria are given protection by the country’s asylum system, he says, and that cannot be arbitrarily taken away without a hearing and legal representation.
To deport someone, he says, the government would have to show that their country of origin is safe, which is unlikely in light of recent events.
Currently, the rebels who toppled Assad have it supported by an interim leader, and promised security and unity to Syrians. But the international community remains distrustful of Hayat Tahrir al-Shams (HTS), the former al-Qaeda affiliate that led the revolt.
Alshater notes that Iran and Libya have also experienced revolutions, and both countries ended oppressive regimes.
“We cannot let the same thing happen in Syria,” he said. “The West and Europe must work for a democratic and independent Syria.”
With archives from Elizabeth Withey, The Canadian Press and Reuters. Interview with Lukas Gahleitner-Gertz produced by Katie Toth.
