Austria set to deport man to Syria, marking first for EU since Assad's fall

Austria is preparing to deport a Syrian man whose asylum status was revoked due to a criminal conviction, in what an EU official and rights groups say will be Europe's first forced deportation to Syria since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad.

Rights groups are concerned that Austria's plan could set a precedent, encouraging other European Union member states to follow suit amid rising anti-migration sentiment across the 27-nation bloc. The 32-year-old man, who was granted asylum in Austria in 2014, lost his refugee status in February 2019 because of his criminal record, his legal adviser Ruxandra Staicu said. She declined to specify the nature of his conviction.

The Austrian Interior Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Deportation to Syria was not possible during the country's civil war as it was considered unsafe. The Austrian government argues that Assad's fall means the situation has changed and it has begun proceedings to strip some refugees of their status, though rights groups say it is premature to do so.

Austrian and Syrian authorities agreed for the man to be deported last week, but the closure of airspace due to the Iran-Israel conflict delayed the process, Staicu and a Western diplomat said. The diplomat, who requested anonymity, added that the deportation would now go ahead once the airspace reopened.

Since 2015, European countries have received around 1.68 million asylum applications from Syrian nationals. Some governments, most notably Germany, initially welcomed them warmly as civil war ravaged their homeland. But rising public concern over the scale of immigration has fueled support for far-right, anti-migrant parties.

SYRIA STILL DANGEROUS? With the fall of Assad last December, many EU governments were quick to suspend the processing of Syrian asylum applications, and some have called for the security situation in Syria to be reassessed to enable deportations to resume.

In Austria, former Chancellor Karl Nehammer, from the ruling Austrian People's Party (OVP), is among those calling for such a reassessment, amid pressure from the far-right Freedom Party. Some rights groups and lawyers say it is still too dangerous to begin returning people to Syria.

"... there are attacks against people and we have no idea in which direction (Syria) will go," said Staicu, adding that her client's deportation would violate the European Convention on Human Rights that prohibits torture and inhumane treatment. The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) told Reuters: "Syrians... must not be forcibly returned from any country, including those in the European Union, to any part of Syria" due to the overall situation there.

Rights groups cite attacks against minorities since Assad's fall. Syria also remains in the grip of a severe humanitarian crisis, with 90% of the population living below the poverty line, according to UN estimates. Staicu said her client had received a negative asylum decision in April. He has filed another asylum application and is awaiting a response.

(Additional reporting by Timour Azhari in Beirut and Francois Murphy in Vienna, editing by Gareth Jones)

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