LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Malta has joined several other European countries in suspending the processing of asylum applications for Syrians, after the downfall of former president Bashar al-Assad. Maltàs Home Affairs Ministry said the International Protection Agency, responsible for asylum applications, had “temporarily suspended the examination of pending and new asylum applications for international protection by Syrian nationals”. The move came following “recent significant events in Syria”, the statement said, in reference to a lightning offensive by Syrian rebels that saw the fall of Baath rule last week after five decades in power. The ministry said the agency “will continue to assess the evolving situation with the aim of resuming the processing of such applications in the shortest time possible”. It said it had taken the decision to suspend applications to “properly assess the evolving situation, since at present it is not possible to properly assess applicants’ reasons for seeking international protection”. NGO Syrian Solidarity in Malta expressed its concern at other European countries announcing suspensions of asylum applications. “We would like to remind the international community that many Syrians in Malta have put down deep roots: we have children born in Malta, businesses operating here and strong familial and social ties to this country,” the statement read. The president of the NGO Syrian Solidarity in Malta the Syrian population in Malta soared from a few hundred before civil conflict in 2011 to around 6,500 by 2022.
(ITALPRESS).
-Photo: Agenzia Fotogramma-
