UK says it is 'not returning' any asylum seekers to Syria

LONDON

Britain on Tuesday said it is “not returning” any people to Syria in line with the UN judgment that the latter “remains unsafe.”

The statement from Home Office came after reports by The Guardian on Sunday that a Syrian asylum seeker was asked to go back to his country.

The daily said, based on a refusal letter from the Home Office, that the 25-year-old man was told that he could return to the country he fled during the war because it is safe to do so.

The Syrian asylum seeker fled “forcible conscription” into the Syrian regime’s army in 2017, saying he would have been forced to kill other Syrians if returned.

He also said he could be targeted as a draft evader, arrested, and even killed in Syria.

The Guardian said it saw a refusal letter from Home Office last month.

“I am not satisfied to a reasonable degree of likelihood that you have a well-founded fear of persecution,” the letter was quoted as saying.

Home Office’s official Twitter account on Tuesday said: “In the current circumstances we are not returning people to Syria.”

“The UK Government agrees with the UN judgement that Syria remains unsafe for them.”

The asylum seeker had told the British paper that he “escaped from Syria in 2017 and I am looking for safety.”

“My solicitor is appealing against the Home Office decision and says this is the first Syrian asylum refusal case she has seen,” he said.

“I hope I will not be forced back to Syria. I am so tired of trying to find somewhere that I can be safe.”