EU countries double down on a halt to Syrian asylum claims but will not yet send people back

Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — Some European Union countries are doubling down on their decision to rapidly halt asylum procedures for Syrian migrants in Europe. But they said Thursday that it’s too early to consider sending any of the hundreds of thousands of people who have fled since 2011 back home. Austria, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Finland, Ireland, Sweden and non-EU country Norway suspended asylum applications from Syrians in the wake of Bashar Assad’s fall. France is weighing whether to take similar action. German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said “we need to wait a few more days to see where Syria is heading now.”  She says the EU should consider joint repatriations of people once things are clearer.