What can refugees and asylum seekers from Syria expect in the coming months?

The situation in Syria has been uncertain since President Assad fled on 8 December 2024. The Netherlands therefore decided not to process asylum requests from Syrian refugees and Palestinians from Syria for 6 months. Those 6 months ended on 14 June.

Minister of Asylum and Migration Faber said in December 2024 that she is waiting to make new rules for Syrians until there is a new

As the Dutch government has collapsed, Faber is no longer a minister. Based on the official report, replacement minister Van Weel sent a letter to the Dutch House of Representatives on 10 June 2025. This letter states that there will be 'new policy'.

The key points of the letter are:

• As of now, the asylum applications of Syrians already there, and all new asylum applications of Syrians, will again be processed by the

  IND
  . Over the coming months, the IND will start conducting all the hearings. Around 17,000 asylum applications from Syrians have yet to be assessed.

• Minister Van Weel calls the security situation in Syria 'improved' compared to the security situation during Assad's regime. Therefore, we expect many rejections of asylum applications in the coming months.

• The security situation for

  LGBTQIA+ individuals
  and alawites in Syria is not as good, the minister believes. Syrians from these groups are more likely to have their asylum applications approved. But even these people must prove during their IND hearing that it is too dangerous for them personally in Syria.

• The situation for Syrians with residence permits in the Netherlands remains unchanged for the time being. The minister indicates in the letter that he will monitor the situations of people with residence permits. Whether residence permits will be reassessed in the future is not clear.

The new official notice on the security situation in Syria was made public on 6 June 2025. The document has 160 pages and replaces the December 2024 official notice.

Based on this official note, the minister wrote his new policy

This is the key information from the May-June 2025 official notice:

The official notice describes security in Syria following the ground assault that began on 27 November 2024, leading to President Assad's departure on 8 December 2024. The period the official notice describes runs from the end of November 2024 through to April 2025.

Here are the key points:

• The security situation was unstable during this period, with violence against Alawites (in March) and Druze (in April-May). There were also reprisals against former Assad supporters. The continuing unrest and lack of control from the authorities in Damascus was evident.

• The security situation during this period varied by area, city and even neighbourhood. The security situation sometimes changed by the week. This was due, for example, to the armed conflicts and foreign military actions in the first months after Assad's departure.

• The security situation was also affected by other factors, such as criminal activity. After the fall of Assad crime increased sharply, especially in major cities such as Damascus, Homs and Aleppo.

• The emergency relief for Syrians was not enough: people did not have food, water or medical aid. Many homes were destroyed and there was an economic crisis.

• In some areas there was fighting and violence between returning Syrians and those already living there. Returned Syrians were not accepted by the people left behind and fled Syria again.

On this website you will find the entire official notice of the Dutch government.

If the IND is going to decide on asylum requests from Syrians again, you will get a new interview with the IND first. And then they will look again at whether it is still too dangerous for you personally to go back to Syria.

If the IND rejects your asylum application or revokes your permit, that does not mean that you will also be deported. This is because the Netherlands has no diplomatic ties with Syria. This means that there are no diplomats, embassies or

It is important that you can prove that you are still in personal danger even in the current situation in Syria. Therefore, prepare well for the interview with the IND and gather information that shows that it is still not safe for you in Syria. Find out here what you can do to properly prepare for your asylum procedure in the Netherlands.

If you have had a fixed-term permit for 5 years or more, it is smart to apply for an