00:00A lot of Syrians came for the last 10 years, really, especially, but since 2011, since the beginning of this civil war,
00:06I think that 10 of the countries have said that they are either freezing the asylum process for the time being,
00:13given what's happened in Syria, and only Austria has decided that they're looking to deport or repatriate,
00:21which is the nicer phrase, Syrians back to Syria.
00:25Germany, first of all, the biggest number, about a million, at least three quarters of a million there officially,
00:33Syrians live in Germany, and they're also talking about freezing applications.
00:39So probably around 47,000 Syrians who are looking for asylum applications in Germany, that's now been frozen.
00:47There are the rise of far-right parties, especially with an election looming in Germany.
00:53This has been a political issue, as it has in many, many countries, actually, in Europe and outside.
00:58Austria has gone further, and it may affect 7,500 people who are hoping to have asylum applications.
01:07So not only looking at freezing it, but possibly being asked to leave Austria.
01:12So another hardline right-wing attitude in Austria, because there's a new government there.
01:18And also, interestingly, the new commissioner in the European Union is also from Austria on migration.
01:26France, the UK, Sweden, Greece, Netherlands, Belgium, all of them now are looking again at this policy.
01:33And in terms of Yvette Cooper, the interior minister, the Home Secretary in the UK,
01:39also a socialist government, a Labour government, but they're following the same procedure.
01:44They're freezing the applications, even though there's a far lower number of Syrians who have actually found home here in the UK.
01:52There are, though, still millions of Syrian refugees. Where have they ended up?
01:57The figures are astounding. It's still one of the biggest crises for refugees and migrants in the world,
02:05according to the UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency. It is one of the biggest.
02:09And when you look at the figures, more than seven million, seven and a half million people displaced inside Syria.
02:16Six and a half, six to six and a half million people have left Syria.
02:20That's more than half the population, far more than half the population of Syria that have been moved because of the last 13, 14 years of war.
02:29And most of them have gone to neighbouring countries. Turkey, more than three million, one million, as we just saw in Lebanon,
02:37but also in Jordan, also in Egypt and in Iraq, there's a large Syrian diaspora.
02:43So what happens to these people? Do they go back? And, you know, attitudes have hardened in those countries as well, especially in Turkey.
02:51It's been a political, divisive issue in Turkey where now they're trying to move people back.
02:57We saw people were voluntarily trying to get back into northern Syria yesterday.
03:01But in Lebanon, one in four, one in five of the population are Syrian refugees.
03:07So that's why we're seeing this move of people. And, of course, those countries are possibly trying to push them out of the country.
Comments