Syrian criminal deported to his homeland. The first such case in the EU. “It can be a precedent”
“Today's deportation is part of a hard and fair asylum policy,” interior minister Gerhard Karner said in a statement. “We will continue the actions aimed at the expelling of convicted criminals from the country, also in the case of Syria,” he announced.
According to the Austrian Ministry of the Interior, there is This is the first such deportation in about 15 years. Human rights organizations warn that this move may be a precedent for other EU countries in the face of growing anti -immigrant moods.
A 32-year-old man received asylum in Austria in 2014, but in 2019 he lost the refugee status because of his criminal past-his legal adviser Ruxandra Staic informed his adviser, which is quoted by the Reuters agency.
Interior Minister of Austria Gerhard Karner, after the interior minister of Germany Nancy Faeser and the Interior Minister of Syria Anas Chattab during a visit to Damascus, April 27, 2025.
The authorities of Austria and Syria agreed to the deportation last week, but closing the airspace caused by the conflict between Iran and Israel delayed this process.
Austria, which adopted almost 100,000 Syrianswas one of the EU countries that suspended all asylum of Syrians asylum conclusions in December after the fall of Assad. The country went even further, initiating the procedures for withdrawing the status of about 2,900 refugees and suspending the connection of families. This is a policy that the new conservative government under the leadership of Chancellor Christian Stocker intends to expand to all nationalities.
At the end of April, the carner went to Syria with his then German equivalent Nancy Faeser to discuss the issue of returns and deportations with the local authorities.
