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Asylum: Syria

Asked by Colum EastwoodSocial Democratic & Labour PartyHome OfficeTabled Answered 12 May 2025UIN 50229

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to develop new country information for Syria; and when she plans to resume processing asylum claims.

Answered by Dame Angela Eagle

As we explained at the time of announcing a pause on decision making, we have kept that pause under constant review. Without stable, objective information on which to base an accurate assessment of a claimant’s risk on return to Syria, we are unable to make robust, reliable decisions on claims for international protection. The Home Office has been gathering and assessing objective country information from a range of sources about the situation in Syria since the fall of the al-Assad regime. As soon as there is a sufficiently clear basis upon which to make determinations, asylum decision-making will recommence.

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