Saeed Suleiman – Action Group

The Action Group for Palestinians of Syria has monitored a series of political and legal shifts that have impacted the situation of Palestinian refugees from Syria residing in European countries since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime on December 8, 2014. This period has witnessed a clear change in European asylum policies towards those arriving from Syria in general, which has directly affected Palestinians from Syria.

The Action Group’s monitoring indicates that these shifts have placed thousands of Palestinian refugees from Syria in Europe in a more complex reality, given the tightening of asylum procedures and the increasing political debates surrounding the return of refugees. This is compounded by the continued disregard for the legal status of Palestinians from Syria as a distinct category from Syrian citizens.

Political transformation in Syria and their impact on refugee issue

Syria underwent a major political transformation in December 2014 with the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime after nearly 14 years of conflict. This event reignited the debate in Europe about the future of millions of Syrian refugees residing in EU member states and other countries on the continent.

In the immediate aftermath, several European governments began reassessing their asylum policies related to Syria, based on the political assumption that the end of the war might pave the way for the return of refugees.

According to European reports, some European countries temporarily suspended the processing of Syrian asylum applications following the regime’s collapse, pending an assessment of the new situation in the country. This led to widespread anxiety and uncertainty among asylum seekers.

Europe also witnessed a significant decrease in Syrian asylum applications in the year following the regime’s collapse. Monthly applications plummeted from approximately 16,000 before the regime’s fall to around 3,500 by September 2025, a drop of nearly 78%.

Increasingly strict in the European asylum policies

European asylum policies have become increasingly stringent. European data shows that many countries began tightening their asylum criteria for Syrians starting in 2025, in light of new assessments of the security situation in Syria.
In Germany, which hosts the largest number of Syrian refugees in Europe, asylum applications were processed after a temporary suspension, but authorities began adopting stricter measures, resulting in a significant increase in rejection rates after the resumption of case review.

Several European countries have also witnessed political debates regarding the return of Syrian refugees to their homeland. In Germany, officials have called for encouraging Syrians to return and participate in the country’s reconstruction, amidst growing political pressure from anti-immigrant right-wing groups.

In Austria, the government has reopened the issue of deportations to Syria in specific cases, a move seen as an indication of a gradual European shift towards stricter asylum policies.

Palestinians from Syria are a group excluded from these considerations

Action Group emphasizes that these political and legal shifts directly affect Palestinian refugees from Syria, despite their different legal status compared to Syrians.

Palestinians who have lived in Syria for decades were originally refugees since the 1948 Nakba. Following the outbreak of the Syrian war, they found themselves facing a new wave of displacement, first to neighboring countries and then to Europe.

However, the main problem they face today in Europe is that many European countries treat their cases as Syrian, even though they do not hold Syrian citizenship in most instances and have no country to which they can return. This situation places thousands of Palestinians from Syria in what human rights organizations describe as a “legal vacuum,” where the policies applicable to Syrians do not fully apply to them, and there is no independent protection mechanism that recognizes their specific legal status.

Concerns about return policies

Palestinian refugees from Syria in Europe are increasingly concerned that current political shifts will broaden the debate surrounding return or resettlement, despite the ongoing dire humanitarian situation inside Syria.

International reports indicate that the country continues to suffer a profound humanitarian crisis, with approximately 70% of the population dependent on aid amidst widespread economic collapse and a severe shortage of basic services.

Furthermore, many Palestinian refugee camps within Syria remain largely devastated or lacking essential infrastructure and services, making the prospect of return unrealistic for many refugees at present.

The reality of the Palestinians from Syria in Europe.

Human rights estimates indicate that tens of thousands of Palestinians from Syria currently live in Europe, with their presence mainly concentrated in Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark and Austria.

These refugees face a range of challenges, most notably:

The unclear legal status in some European countries, the difficulty of family reunification in a number of countries, the delay in deciding on asylum applications or reassessing them, and concerns about changing European policies towards Syrian refugees, as many of them fear that linking their cases to the Syrian refugee file will reduce the opportunities for legal protection they need as stateless refugees.

The Action Group for Palestinians of Syria has also observed an increasing number of asylum applications from Palestinian refugees from Syria being rejected in some European countries, particularly Germany, based on legal justifications related to their theoretical entitlement to protection from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). These decisions are often based on an interpretation of the article concerning Palestinians in the 1951 Refugee Convention, which assumes that Palestinian refugees receive protection or assistance from UNRWA.

However, the action group emphasizes that this assumption does not reflect the current reality. UNRWA does not provide any form of legal protection to Palestinian refugees in Europe, and its services in its traditional areas of operation in the Middle East have declined significantly in recent years due to the severe financial crisis facing the agency. The reduction in international funding has led to widespread cuts in education and healthcare programs, along with a near-complete halt to cash and food assistance in several areas, leaving thousands of Palestinian refugees, including those from Syria, effectively without any alternative international safety net.

The action group believes that relying on the existence of UNRWA as a reason for rejecting asylum applications ignores this reality. It places Palestinian refugees in a dangerous legal vacuum that threatens their right to international protection.

Calls for independent legal protection

In light of these developments, the Action Group for Palestinians of Syria called on European governments and international institutions to take measures to ensure the protection of Palestinian refugees from Syria, most notably:
1. Legally separating the cases of Palestinians from Syria from those of Syrian citizens in asylum procedures.

2. Halting any deportation or forced return procedures that may affect them.
3. Recognizing their special status as dually displaced refugees.
4. Strengthening the role of international organizations in monitoring their situation in Europe.

The group believes that ignoring the legal privacy of Palestinians coming from Syria could put thousands of refugees at risk of losing international protection, at a time when conditions inside Syria are still not conducive to a safe and dignified return.