Since the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, interest among Syrians in Belgium to return home has grown significantly. The first group of voluntary returnees is set to depart on

Thursday, January 16.

The end of Assad’s rule in December marked a turning point. Prior to this, voluntary returns from Belgium were exceedingly rare. In June and November, only one Syrian returned each month under voluntary arrangements. Earlier in the year, five individuals left following deportation orders.

Nicole de Moor, Belgium’s outgoing state secretary for asylum and migration, explained that after Assad’s fall, her office directed Fedasil, the agency managing asylum services, to facilitate voluntary returns. “Since this directive, Fedasil’s voluntary return office has seen an uptick in inquiries from Syrians eager to go back,” she said.

“The first group of returnees is scheduled to leave tomorrow, January 16. A total of 24 individuals have expressed interest in returning voluntarily to Syria. The group is predominantly made up of single men but also includes single women and a family with children,” de Moor shared. She added that some Syrians, including those with pending asylum applications or refugee status, may have returned independently without informing authorities.

This trend, however, is not reflected in other parts of Europe. De Moor noted that a recent survey revealed no significant cases of voluntary returns among Syrians in France or other European countries.

Despite the growing interest in Belgium, the country’s Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGRS) has not resumed processing asylum applications from Syrian nationals. De Moor explained that the CGRS still lacks sufficient information to evaluate the security conditions in Syria and the risks faced by returnees. Photo by anjči from London, UK, Wikimedia commons.