Syrian asylum seekers ‘terrified’ after Home Office pauses claims

Mr Kassas said he was “certain” he and his family would be “threatened” if they returned to Syria, voicing concerns that deposed president Assad’s supporters and forces are still present in the country.

“I don’t like being a refugee, I have a homeland, I have a right to get back there. But under the circumstances I do not believe I will be able to go. I will not risk my children’s safety, I will not risk my wife’s,” he told BBC News.

Syria’s capital Damascus and much of the country is now controlled by a rebel coalition, led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahir al-Sham (HTS), which is proscribed as a terror organisation by the UK government and others.

Earlier this week, cabinet minister Pat McFadden said the UK could remove HTS from the list of banned terrorist groups – but Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer later said it was “far too early” to consider a change of policy.

BBC News also spoke to Hamid, not his real name, who fled the Assad regime in 2013, after he supported humanitarian work in the country.

After moving to Lebanon and Turkey, he arrived in the UK as a student and applied for asylum in late 2023.

The father-of-two, who lives in the West Midlands, said the pause to asylum claims had left him “anxious” and his wife in tears.

“Currently with their decision, they’re affecting thousands of people who are already struggling. [Syrian asylum seekers] cannot go back yet because it’s not yet safe, they cannot settle here at the same time, they will be nowhere for an unknown period of time.”