Overview

• On July 3, Austria deported a 32-year-old Syrian man convicted in 2018, marking the first EU removal to Syria since Assad’s fall.
• Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said the action embodies a hard but fair asylum policy and signaled that further deportations to Syria are in preparation.
• Austrian and Syrian officials reached agreement on the return last week, though airspace closures over the Iran-Israel conflict delayed the flight.
• In December 2024, Austria suspended all Syrian asylum applications and initiated revocations of refugee status for about 2,900 Syrians with criminal convictions.
• Rights groups warn that Austria’s resumption of returns to Damascus could set a precedent for other EU countries and weaken protections for vulnerable refugees.