Syrian refugees in Europe face uncertainty after Assad's sudden departure

The sudden fall of Syriaʼs government has created a new-found worry for refugees living in Europe. After rebels took over Damascus this week forcing president Bashar al-Assad into Russian exile‚ many EU countries put Syrian asylum cases on-hold

Najem al-Moussa a former lawyer now working as a cook in Athens feels torn about the news: his tiny flatʼs TV shows images of change in his homeland but his thoughts are with his familys future here. “I consider my life to be here; not just me but my children“ he says while his wife Bushra al-Bukaai nods in agreement

Their story started roughly 9 years ago when they left Damascus spending all savings on a two-year trip through several countries (including Sudan Iran and Turkey) before reaching Greece. Today their five kids speak perfect Greek but barely know their parents native Arabic

The numbers tell a bigger story: Syrian asylum requests in EU peaked around 2015-16 with more than 330‚000 applications yearly; after dropping for a while they went up again between 2020-23. Now thousands of cases are frozen as countries re-think their policies

In Germany Hasan Alzagher a 32-year old vet who left Raqqa about 6 years ago faces similar issues. His pending asylum case got stopped mid-process: “Its mentally devastating to think about returning when youʼve already started building a new life here‚“ he explains while taking a break from his German-language class

The situation shows two different responses to Assads exit:

• Many Syrians in Turkey and Lebanon rush back home
• Refugees in EU prefer staying in their new countries
• Legal experts question delays in processing cases