Austria becomes first EU country to resume deportations of refugees to Syria

Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner proudly announced the news in front of the cameras on Thursday, July 3, from Vienna Airport. "For the first time in almost fifteen years, a Syrian criminal was today deported directly to Syria, in this case to Damascus," announced the official of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP, conservative), a few hours after the takeoff of a plane carrying, on board, the first known case of a Syrian refugee to be deported directly to his country of origin by a European Union (EU) state since the start of the civil war in 2011.

The 32-year-old, who arrived in Austria in 2013, lost his refugee status after being sentenced to seven years in prison in 2018. But, like all Syrians in Europe, he was until recently ineligible for deportation due to the risk of ill-treatment in Syria while Bashar al-Assad was in power. Since the dictator's fall in December 2024, several European politicians have traveled to Damascus to try to resume deportations, in agreement with the new Syrian authorities.

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