Syrien

As it is publicly known, in the past few years a horrible civil war took place in Syria. Nevertheless, this does not mean that Syrians get refugee status easily in Switzerland. For the most part, Syrians do not get refugee status, but subsidiary protection since their return is not reasonable under Swiss law (“Unzumutbarkeit”).

There has been a decrease of Syrian asylum seekers in 2017 compared to the previous years. Indeed, 2 144 persons applied for asylum in 2016 and 1 951 in 2017. Syrian nationals were the second most important community applying for asylum after Eritrean nationals, representing about 10.8% of all the asylum seekers. The decisions rendered in 2017 by SEM regarding this community were as follows: 1 070 decisions granted asylum and 1 296 decisions providing temporary protection. These represented 90% of all the decisions, which means that 10% did not allow any kind of protection.

Humanitarian Visa: it is a measure adopted for close relatives of Syrians benefiting from an F permit (only applicable for spouses and children). They must be located in Syria or a neighbouring country (Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan or Turkey). Results: 494 Humanitarian visas released (data of January 2018). This program has been revoked in the meanwhile though, so no new applications on the basis of this program are possible anymore.

There is specific case law for the following groups of the Syrian population:

• Christians: Even though there is no official number, they represent 4% to 15% of the total Syrian population. They are in a difficult situation as they tried to stay neutral, and both the regime and the rebels consider them as allies of their enemy. In general, BVGer does not assume that Christians are generally persecuted. The Court assumes that Christians in Syria are loyal to the government, as the authorities never discriminated them before the outbreak of the armed conflict. Exception: The Court may treat the case differently when the asylum seekers come from an area controlled by Islamist groups like ISIS. The Court defines collective persecution as follows: the members of a specific community must be targeted with a certain intensity of violence. A decent life is not possible anymore for the community. Only ISIS, Jabhat Al Nusra and other extremist groups are targeting Christians as a community.

• Deserters and Conscientious Objectors: There is, in principle, no ground for asylum seekers requesting asylum for these reasons. In fact, Art.3(3) of the Asylum Act (AsylA) explicitly excludes deserters and conscientious objectors from the scope of the refugee definition. However, when desertion is actually perceived as a political opposition to the State leading to prosecution or punishment which is disproportionate or discriminatory, it amounts to persecution pursuant to the Geneva Convention of 1951. As for the mandatory military service established by the YPG (People's Protection Units), there is no similar sanction as in the Syrian army for deserters and conscious objectors (no systematic persecution), which means that it is not a valid argument for requesting asylum in Switzerland. The person could in the best case be granted temporary protection. Note: When performed, the national military service could be seen as a guarantee of protection by the government.

• Political Dissidents and Demonstrators: The Court distinguishes between ordinary demonstrators and those who engage in qualified activities. The person must have attracted the interest of the Syrian authorities and be identified by name as an anti-regime element and potential threat. Note: the court puts an emphasis on the art.3(4) of the Asylum Act. The person must have been identified as a threat before their departure from the country. The political persecution must not be caused by subversive activities following their departure.

• Internal Flight: an asylum seeker cannot be sent back just because some areas are controlled by Kurd fighters (the YPG). The Court considers that there is no stable territorial control allowing them guarantees of protection and security against the Syrian forces. The three conditions of organization, stability and durability are not met.

• Palestinians: BVGer does not accept UNRWA refugee status ipso facto. Each case has to be assessed individually.

• Kurds: Kurds have quite good chances of being recognized as refugees since they are targeted and persecuted in various regions in Syria. As already said, there is no internal alternative for them even in the Kurdish-controlled areas of the country.

Practical advice:

• Discuss with your client whether there were any aspects of persecution which go beyond the «normal» civil war.

• Ask in particular for any political activity (making them a threat for the State) or their religion and any possible persecution measures/discrimination following from that, e.g. Kurds, Yazidi, Christians, etc.

• Ask whether your client was forced to fight on either side. If so, ask about the experi- ences that s/he had during this time, why/how s/he escaped from the service and what consequences s/he has to face because of that upon return.

• The area from which they come is very important; ask some details about it and about which party controls it.

• Note that currently no deportations to Syria effectively take place.