The launch of the civil war in Syria, as a result of the uprising in the context of Arab Spring in 2011, caused a few months later mass refugee flows with thousands to make the decision at the mercy of the stars to make the difficult journey of the Mediterranean.

Greece, then, was confronted with an unprecedented disproportionate wave of immigrant arrivals and overall, over the years, it has granted more than 147,000 refugee regimes to Syrian citizens. Today, they reside in the structures of the National Reception System, 5,600 Syrians and are the two largest ethnic groups of asylum seekers, according to the Ministry of Migration and Asylum.

Six months after the fall of the ‘Assad regime, there is a change in the management of asylum applications submitted to our country by Syrian citizens. In particular, the first negative decisions were issued for applicants from Syria, after taking into account the reasons for fleeing and the personal characteristics of asylum. Specifically, in people who embrace the Muslim Sunni doctrine, they are single men, non -vulnerable and have a support network in Damascus are likely to reject the asylum request and then start their return process.

Thus, Greece becomes the second member state that begins, after Cyprus, to issue negative decisions on Syrian citizens.

Following the early ‘Assad and the establishment of a new government in Syria, the decision was made to freeze the procedures until younger in order to have more information on the situation in the country and to create a stability. For this reason, until recently, the only negative asylum decisions concerning Syrians had to do with applicants who pose a risk to the country’s national security and public order or had committed a criminal offense of a criminal nature. Now, it is considered that the data has changed.

Greece, implementing a rigorous but fair immigration policy, is shaping a new status quo for the management of illegal arrivals, sources from the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum in the RES-EIA, referring to the new bill that is expected to come to Parliament for the vote.

In addition, Athens’ intention is to review the refugee regimes granted to Syrian citizens in the depths of months and to recall what their reasons have disappeared.

In a statement to the “First Issue” newspaper on Sunday, the Minister of Immigration and Asylum stresses: “Greece was the first country in Europe that, after the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, has freezed asylum requests by Syrian citizens, as well as their careful review. A few days ago, the first negative decisions for applicants from Syria were issued, after taking into account the reason for their flight combined with their personal characteristics. Thus, Greece becomes the second member state that begins, after Cyprus, to make negative decisions on Syrian citizens. “