LONDON
\nFive Syrian refugees in the UK are threatening legal action against the British Home Office after their applications for permanent settlement were left in limbo after a government decision to halt all decisions on Syrian asylum and settlement cases.
\nThe Home Office paused interviews and decisions on Syrian asylum claims on Dec. 9 last year, citing the need to \u201cassess the current situation\u201d in the wake of the collapse of Bashar Assad\u2019s regime.
\nThe freeze also applies to Syrians who have already been granted refugee status and are now seeking indefinite leave to remain, The Independent reported on Sunday.
\nAccording to government figures cited by the newspaper, at least 7,000 people have been affected by the wider pause on asylum decisions as of the end of March.
\nHowever, the number of Syrians awaiting a decision on permanent settlement is not known.
\nThe five people mounting the challenge are being represented by law firm Duncan Lewis, which has issued pre-action letters to the Home Office arguing that the pause is unjustifiable.
\nLawyers contend that if the government cannot assess whether Syria is safe to return to, it must uphold its obligations under UK immigration rules and international law.
\n\u201cOur clients have all fled violence and persecution in Syria, and sought refuge in the United Kingdom,\u201d said Manini Menon of Duncan Lewis, in comments published by The Independent.
\n\u201cIn granting them refugee status, the home secretary guaranteed our clients the protections afforded by the Refugee Convention and assured them that they would be treated fairly and in line with the immigration rules as approved by parliament.
\n\u201cThose rules are clear: as long as the home secretary cannot conclude that individuals who have been recognised as refugees may safely return to Syria (and that they are therefore no longer entitled to refugee status), she must grant their applications for settlement,\u201d Menon added.
\nRefugees are eligible to apply for indefinite leave to remain five years after being granted asylum. But with the Home Office yet to provide a timeline for when decisions will resume, concerns are growing about the uncertainty faced by Syrians living in the UK.
\nThe pause follows the toppling of Assad in December by a rebel offensive led by Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham.
\nAhmad Al-Sharaa, the group\u2019s leader, is now interim president, although HTS remains a proscribed terrorist organisation under UK law.
\nAl-Sharaa, who previously had a $10 million US bounty on his head, met with US President Donald Trump in May.
\n\u201cI think he has got the potential,\u201d Trump said after the meeting.
\nIn January, Home Office minister Lord Hanson told parliament that decisions had been paused because \u201cwe do not yet understand what has happened in Syria on a permanent basis or know how stable Syria is as a whole.\u201d
\nLabour MP Dame Angela Eagle echoed the stance in February, saying: \u201cAs soon as there is a sufficiently clear basis upon which to make determinations, asylum decision making will recommence.\u201d
\nA Home Office spokesperson told The Independent: \u201cThe Home Office has paused decisions on all Syrian asylum cases whilst we continue to assess the current situation, including those for individuals who arrived under the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme. We are keeping this pause under constant review.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONDON Five Syrian refugees in the UK are threatening legal action against the British Home Office after their applications for permanent settlement were left in limbo after a government decision to halt all decisions on Syrian asylum and settlement cases. The Home Office paused interviews and decisions on Syrian asylum claims on Dec. 9 last […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":485896,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-485879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n