Syrian group raises concerns over asylum decisions in Cyprus

Serious concerns about the way Cypriot authorities are currently handling international protection applications from Syrians were raised by the advocacy group Syrians in Cyprus in a letter sent on Thursday to the head of the asylum and migration service, Andreas Georgiadis.

“It has become clear to us that the process of the required individualised risk assessment when examining applications is almost impossible, since conditions in Syria remain volatile and unpredictable at all levels,” the group said.

They stressed that the war in Syria is not confined to national borders but continues to affect the entire region, with the country still exposed to threats against its territorial integrity, including both air and ground offensives. These, they added, are partly the result of competing interests among neighbouring states.

“The reality on the ground reveals that the situation in Syria is fluid and far from stabilised, and the risk of a slide back into hostilities has not been removed,” the group said in its letter, warning of the dangers of prematurely designating areas as ‘safe’. They pointed out that similar judgments in the past had proven wrong, as violence has repeatedly reignited in nearly every part of the country.

Spokesperson for the group, Ploutarhos Pantelides, told the Cyprus Mail that they had recently been informed of around 100 rejections, all concerning applicants from the Idlib region in north-western Syria.

“In February it was the southwest, in March the coast around Latakia. Idlib, however, has been relatively spared in recent months,” he said.

He explained that while Idlib has historically been a stronghold and has experienced a degree of stability recently, that does not mean the region is genuinely safe.

“It’s clear from the rejections that the authorities consider Idlib safe,” he added, suggesting that information presented to the asylum services may have led to an overly optimistic assessment of the situation there.

According to a June 2025 country guidance report on Syria issued by the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA), the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led by Ahmad Al-Sharaa, launched a large-scale offensive in November 2024 and subsequently established a transitional government in Idlib.

This development may have contributed to the relative stability in the area. However, the group warned that this should not be mistaken for long-term safety. Israel has previously described the transitional government in Idlib as “a terror group”.