UPDATE - Belgium suspends asylum procedures for Syrians

ADDS SIMILAR MOVE BY ITALY

By Necva Tastan Sevinc

ISTANBUL (AA) - Belgium has suspended decisions on Syrian asylum applications due to potential challenges in accessing information on applicants, an official said Monday.

Olivier Brasseur, the spokesman for the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGRS), told Anadolu that the suspension does not affect cases already approved by another European Union member state.

However, it remains unclear how long the authorities plan to maintain the suspension, which comes after the weekend collapse of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's decades-long Baath regime.

Syrians currently constitute the largest group among those seeking asylum in Belgium.

Since the onset of the Syrian civil war in 2011, around 35,000 Syrians have been granted asylum in Belgium. Similarly, France has received significant numbers of Syrian asylum seekers over the years.

The French government, following the lead of Germany and other EU nations, is also poised to suspend asylum applications from Syria, according to the country's Interior Ministry.

Meanwhile, Italy also announced that it has suspended the processing of asylum requests of Syrians.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni chaired a meeting to discuss the situation in Syria, her office said in a written statement.

“It is decided to suspend the processing of asylum applications from Syria, in line with decisions taken by some other European partners,” it said.

On Nov. 27, Syrian opposition forces launched a 10-day lightning offensive, capturing key cities, and then on Dec. 8 the capital Damascus. The rapid advance, supported by defecting military units, led to the collapse of the Assad regime after 13 years of civil war.

Assad and his family fled to Moscow, where Russia granted them asylum.