8 EU members say conditions in Syria should be reassessed to allow voluntary refugee returns

Nicosia, Cyprus — The governments of eight European Union member states said on Friday that the situation in Syria should be reassessed to allow the voluntary return of Syrian refugees to their homeland.

In a joint statement, officials from Austria, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Denmark, Greece, Italy, Malta and Poland said they agree on a reassessment that would lead to “more effective ways of handling” Syrian refugees trying to reach the European Union. countries.

The eight countries, which held talks during a summit meeting in the Cypriot capital, said the situation in Syria has “evolved considerably” although complete political stability has not been achieved.

In recent months, Cyprus has seen an increase in Syrian refugees arriving in the island nation mainly from Lebanon aboard rickety boats.

Earlier this month, the EU announced a €1 billion ($1.06 billion) aid package for Lebanon aimed at strengthening border controls to stem the flow of asylum seekers and migrants to Cyprus and Italy.

The eight countries said the EU should further increase support to Lebanon to “mitigate the risk of even greater flows from Lebanon to the EU.”

“Decisions about who has the right to cross a member state’s borders should be made by the government of the relevant member state and not by criminal networks involved in migrant smuggling and human trafficking,” the joint statement said.

The call comes a day after 15 EU member countries publicly called for the bloc to boost partnerships with countries along migration routes in the hope of preventing attempts to reach EU countries.

The countries said that while they “fully accept” the need to support Syrian refugees in accordance with international law, they hoped their talks could open a broader debate within the 27-member bloc on the process of granting international protection to the migrants.

“What European citizens want from us… are solutions, practical and realistic solutions that can be implemented,” said Greek Migration Minister Dimitris Kairidis.

Cypriot Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou said the United Nations refugee agency has already “established lines of communication” with Syrian authorities on possible voluntary returns in accordance with international law.

The Cypriot minister said returns would initially be voluntary, but could become forced returns at a later stage. Much more needs to be done to make that happen because Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government is not recognized by the EU, he said.

In Lebanon, where anti-refugee sentiment has increased recently, more than 300 Syrian refugees returned to Syria in a convoy earlier this week.

Lebanese officials have long urged the international community to resettle refugees in other countries or help them return to Syria.