Asylum applications from Syrians will now be assessed on a case-by-case basis following the fall of the Assad regime, rather than be automatically approved, acting justice minister David van Weel has told parliament.

The shift in policy comes amid political uncertainty over who should lead the asylum and migration portfolio following the far-right’s withdrawal from the coalition government.

Van Weel told MPs in a briefing that that Syria is now classified as experiencing the lowest level of “indiscriminate violence”, meaning general insecurity is no longer sufficient grounds for granting asylum. However, members of vulnerable groups, including LGBT+ people, may still qualify if they can demonstrate individual risk factors, he said.

As part of the policy change, government support for voluntary return and reintegration is being scaled back to its previous level.

Asylum seekers who choose to return to Syria voluntarily will receive €815 in cash assistance for the first few days after arrival, and up to €2,000 in in-kind reintegration support, Van Weel said.

Last week, judges ordered that the foreign affairs ministry’s latest report on Syria be made public, overturning a government decision to keep all country security reports secret. The report said the security situation in Syria remains “fragile”, “unstable” and “volatile”.

The government said in May it would no longer publish country reports, which assess political and security conditions in foreign countries and are used to help determine asylum claims, a move much criticised by lawyers and campaign groups.

The Netherlands stopped processing refugee applications from Syrian nationals in December for a six month period, while was is unclear what the impact of the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad will be, and if it is safe for people to return.

The Netherlands is currently home to 160,000 Syrians. In 2023 some 27,000 refugees were given temporary residency, over half of whom were Syrian nationals. According to a survey among 3,000 Syrians in 2022 the majority would not return if the situation in their homeland improved.

Premature

Refugee support organisation VluchtelingenWerk Nederland described the minister’s decision as premature.

“The official report shows that the security situation in the country is volatile and unstable. The level of uncertainty is still too high,” VluchtelingenWerk Nederland said. “There are still various active armed conflicts in the country: levels of violence fluctuate and conditions can vary by region and even week to week.”

The Dutch branch of the UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency, also said it “believes the criteria for ending refugee status for Syrians have not currently been met”.