Since the beginning of this year, 111 Syrians have voluntarily returned to their homeland, as revealed by figures from Fedasil on Friday, with the fall of the Assad regime being the main driving force.
On 9 December, Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad was ousted in Damascus. Assad was part of the Alawite faith community, a religious minority in the region. The new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, is a Sunni.
This regime change appears to be the primary reason for the increase in voluntary returns. In 2024, only two people returned from Belgium, but this year, the number has already surpassed 100. Additionally, Fedasil reports that eighteen more Syrians have booked flights to return, and 16 others have expressed interest in going home. This could bring the total number of returnees in 2025 to 145.
Other factors may also be influencing the decision to return. Since the rebels took power, the processing of asylum applications from Syrians in our country has been paused due to the Belgian Commissioner-General for Refugees and Stateless Persons lacking “sufficient objective information” about the situation in the region. This pause is in effect until the end of the month.
Discussions are scheduled to determine whether this measure should be extended, but some may not want to wait any longer. It remains uncertain if the processing of Syrian asylum applications will resume in August.
