Austria offers Syrians €1,000 'return bonus' as Europe suspends asylum claims

The EU's executive branch, the European Commission, said that currently 'the conditions are not met for safe, voluntary, dignified returns to Syria.'

Transcript

00:00Austria's government says it's offering Syrian refugees a return bonus of 1,000 euros to

00:07go home following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad's regime.

00:11The move comes as several countries across Europe have already begun deliberating what

00:16to do with their Syrian refugee populations.

00:20In a post on X, Chancellor Karl Nehammer said Austria will support Syrians who wish to return

00:25to their home country with a return bonus of 1,000 euros.

00:29The country now needs its citizens in order to be rebuilt.

00:34Austria has also stopped processing asylum applications filed by Syrians in line with

00:38several other European countries including Belgium, Denmark and Germany.

00:43But the European Commission said that at present the conditions are not met for safe, voluntary,

00:48dignified returns to Syria.

00:50Almost 14,000 Syrians applied for international protection in Europe this year, according

00:55to the EU's asylum agency.

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