UK Says Syria Not Safe for Return of Refugees

A Syrian child peers from a window in Taybe orphanage refugee camp for displaced people run by the Turkish Red Crescent in Sarmada district, on the outskirts north of Idlib, Syria, Thursday, Nov. 25, 2021. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
A Syrian child peers from a window in Taybe orphanage refugee camp for displaced people run by the Turkish Red Crescent in Sarmada district, on the outskirts north of Idlib, Syria, Thursday, Nov. 25, 2021. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
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UK Says Syria Not Safe for Return of Refugees

A Syrian child peers from a window in Taybe orphanage refugee camp for displaced people run by the Turkish Red Crescent in Sarmada district, on the outskirts north of Idlib, Syria, Thursday, Nov. 25, 2021. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
A Syrian child peers from a window in Taybe orphanage refugee camp for displaced people run by the Turkish Red Crescent in Sarmada district, on the outskirts north of Idlib, Syria, Thursday, Nov. 25, 2021. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

The UK's Home Office has said it does not plan on sending Syrian refugees and asylum seekers back to Syria, as it considers it “unsafe”.

Analysts considered this step as an affirmation that the UK will not follow the example of Denmark that considered some Syrian regions to be safe.

It follows an article by The Guardian on Sunday which said that a rejected Syrian asylum seeker had been told it would be safe for him to be returned to the country.

The 25-year-old sought sanctuary in the UK in May 2020. He fled forcible conscription into Bashar al-Assad’s army in 2017, saying that he would have been forced to kill other Syrians. He said that if he is forced back to Syria he will be targeted as a draft evader, arrested, detained, and killed.

The Guardian has seen a refusal letter sent to the man by the Home Office in December, in which an official said: “I am not satisfied to a reasonable degree of likelihood that you have a well-founded fear of persecution.”

The asylum seeker, who is not named for his protection, said that his lawyer informed him it was thought to be the first decision of its kind.

In a post on its official Twitter account, the Home Office said: "In the current circumstances we are not returning people to Syria. The UK Government agrees with the UN judgment that Syria remains unsafe for them."

The British Special Envoy to Syria, Jonathan Hargreaves, later added: "UK position remains unchanged: Syria is not currently safe for refugee returns. We are not sending people back to Syria."

The UK hosts a total of 19,964 Syrians through the Syrian vulnerable person resettlement program (VPR), statistics in December showed.

No European country forced the Syrians to return to their homeland, but the Danish government declared Damascus along with other Syrian regions safe. In May, the government decided to revoke the Danish residency permits of a number of Syrians.



Jerusalem Patriarch Hails Pope’s Commitment to Gaza

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa speaks during a press conference at the Latin Catholic patriarchate at the Old City of Jerusalem, 22 April 2025. (EPA)
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa speaks during a press conference at the Latin Catholic patriarchate at the Old City of Jerusalem, 22 April 2025. (EPA)
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Jerusalem Patriarch Hails Pope’s Commitment to Gaza

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa speaks during a press conference at the Latin Catholic patriarchate at the Old City of Jerusalem, 22 April 2025. (EPA)
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa speaks during a press conference at the Latin Catholic patriarchate at the Old City of Jerusalem, 22 April 2025. (EPA)

The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, on Tuesday hailed Pope Francis's support for Gazans and engagement with the small Catholic community in the war-battered Palestinian territory.

The Catholic church's highest authority in the region, who is considered a potential successor to the late pontiff, Pizzaballa told journalists in Jerusalem that "Gaza represents, a little bit, all what was the heart of his pontificate".

Pope Francis, who died on Monday aged 88, advocated peace and "closeness to the poor... and to the neglected one", said the patriarch.

These positions became particularly evident in Francis's response to the Israel-Hamas war which broke out in October 2023, Pizzaballa said.

"He was very close to the community of Gaza, the parish of Gaza, he kept calling them many times -- for a certain period, also every day, every evening at 7 pm," said the patriarch.

He added that by doing so, the pope "became for the community something stable, and also comforting for them, and he knew this".

Out of the Gaza Strip's 2.4 million people, about 1,000 are Christians. Most of them are Orthodox, but according to the Latin Patriarchate, there are about 135 Catholics in the territory.

Since the early days of the war, members of the Catholic community have been sheltering at Holy Family Church compound in Gaza City, and some Orthodox Christians have also found refuge there.

Pope Francis repeatedly called for an end to the war. The day before his death, in a final Easter message delivered on Sunday, he condemned the "deplorable humanitarian situation" in the besieged territory.

"Work for justice... but without becoming part of the conflict," said Pizzaballa of the late pontiff's actions.

"For us, for the Church, it leaves an important legacy."

The patriarch thanked the numerous Palestinian and Israeli public figures who have offered their condolences, preferring not to comment on the lack of any official message from Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Even as "the local authorities... were not always happy" with the pope's positions or statements, they were "always very respectful", he said.

Pizzaballa said he will travel to Rome on Wednesday, after leading a requiem mass for the pope at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem in the morning.

As one of the 135 cardinal electors, the Latin patriarch will participate in the conclave to elect a new pope.

Pizzaballa, a 60-year-old Italian Franciscan who also speaks English and Hebrew, arrived in Jerusalem in 1990 and was made a cardinal in September 2023, just before the Gaza war began.

His visits to Gaza and appeals for peace since then have attracted international attention.