Austria to Pay Syrians 1000 Euros to Return to Syria

The Austrian authorities will pay 1000 euros to Syrian refugees who wish to return to their homeland, announced Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer. "Austria will support Syrians wishing to return home by providing a bonus of 1000 euros. The country now needs its citizens to come back to aid in recovery," he wrote on the X social network.

Nehammer added that the processing of asylum applications from Syrians in Austria remains frozen. According to the UN Refugee Agency, since the civil war began in Syria in 2011, inhabitants have fled to 130 countries. Most have settled in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt, with over a million in European countries.

Following the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria, European authorities began to suspend the processing of asylum requests from Syrians en masse. In addition to Austria, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Sweden, and others have announced a halt in processing applications. Approximately 7,300 applications have been frozen in Austria, where there are about 100,000 Syrians in total. Austria's Interior Minister Gerhard Karner had previously stated that he instructed his department to prepare a structured program for "return and deportation to Syria."