The Council of the European Union announced on Monday the suspension of several restrictive measures on Syria as part of efforts to support the country’s economic recovery and political transition. The decision lifts sanctions on key sectors, including energy and transport, and eases financial restrictions to facilitate humanitarian and reconstruction efforts.
The EU Council’s decision includes the suspension of sectoral sanctions on energy, including oil, gas, electricity, and transport. Additionally, five entities — the Industrial Bank, Popular Credit Bank, Saving Bank, Agricultural Cooperative Bank, and Syrian Arab Airlines — have been removed from the EU’s list of frozen assets. Transactions related to Syria’s energy and transport sectors, as well as those necessary for humanitarian work, will now be permitted, the council revealed in a statement.
Other measures include lifting restrictions on establishing banking relations between Syrian and European financial institutions for specific sectors and indefinitely extending the existing humanitarian exemption. The Council also introduced an exemption for the export of luxury goods to Syria for personal use.
Speaking at a press conference in Brussels, European Commission Vice President and foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas stated, “There is hope to build an inclusive country, and we are closely working together with regional actors to achieve this.”
The EU Council emphasized that it will continue to monitor the situation in Syria and assess whether further sanctions should be suspended. However, measures related to the Al-Assad regime, chemical weapons, illicit drug trade, arms trade, dual-use goods, internal repression equipment, and cultural heritage imports remain in place.
The decision sparked immediate political reactions across Europe, particularly from conservative parties advocating for the repatriation of Syrian refugees. Geert Wilders, leader of the Dutch Party for Freedom (PVV), responded on X, writing, “Great, then we can quickly send the Syrians back!”
Some European countries have already implemented policies to encourage voluntary returns. Denmark, for example, offers financial incentives, with adults eligible to receive up to 200,000 Danish crowns (€26,818) and children up to 50,000 crowns (€6,700) under its repatriation law.
In Germany, CDU parliamentary group vice-president Jens Spahn proposed during the election to offer free flights and a €1,000 incentive for voluntary returns to Syria, even suggesting Germany could reconsider its commitment to the European Convention on Human Rights to facilitate deportations. However, such a move now remains uncertain given Germany’s expected coalition agreement with the Social Democrats (SPD).
A leading figure in Germany's CDU party — predicted to become the largest party in the German parliament after February's elections — has suggested the country could QUIT the European Convention on Human Rights to combat illegal immigration.
"Irregular migration is more than… pic.twitter.com/TCEH8Un0cp
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) December 10, 2024Chancellor-in-waiting Freidrich Merz told ARD during the election campaign that Germany cannot accept more Syrians and that those who are not integrated should return to Syria.
He told the broadcaster that “one-third” of Syrians who “work and are integrated” in Germany can stay, “but the two-thirds who do not work, they are overwhelmingly young men, many of them can go back, and many must go back.”
Existing voluntary return programs for Syrian refugees at the state level in Germany, for example in Dresden, have seen an abysmal uptake, raising questions about the effectiveness of such schemes. Despite offering financial incentives — €1,000 per adult and €4,000 per family — only four out of 7,433 Syrians in the city have applied since the program’s launch at the start of the year.
Austria has also begun reviewing the asylum status of Syrians who have been in the country for less than five years. The Federal Office for Asylum and Immigration (BFA) has sent letters to thousands of Syrians questioning their continued need for protection.
Despite growing pressure for repatriations, the Council of Europe has warned that no member state can return a Syrian asylum seeker if they are at risk of death, torture, or inhuman treatment. Michael O’Flaherty, the human rights commissioner of the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe, cautioned in December that the withdrawal of refugee status must be based on fundamental and lasting changes in the country of origin.
“Developments in Syria and the fall of the Assad regime have led some states to suspend Syrian asylum applications and announce plans for returns. However, these actions raise concerns regarding compliance with international refugee and human rights obligations, particularly the principle of non-refoulement,” O’Flaherty stated.
He further emphasized that protection cannot be withdrawn for individuals who face risks due to past persecution or whose return remains impossible due to personal circumstances.
Data published late last year by the German Federal Employment Agency revealed that nearly half of Syrians in Germany remain dependent on citizen’s benefits nearly a decade after the 2015 asylum wave, casting doubt on the narrative that Syrian migrants provide a net benefit to the country.
The figures showed that, as of August 2024, 518,050 Syrian citizens in Germany were in receipt of state welfare benefits, or Bürgergeld, reflecting persistent integration challenges.
