Austria offers Syrians €1,000 'return bonus' as Europe suspends asylum claims

Austria's government has said it is offering Syrian refugees in the country a 'return bonus' of €1,000 euros to go back to Syria following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

The move comes as several countries across Europe have already begun deliberating what to do with their Syrian refugee populations.

"Austria will support Syrians who wish to return to their home country with a return bonus of 1,000 euros. The country now needs its citizens in order to be rebuilt," Conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer said in a statement posted in English and German on X.

Nehammer said on the day al-Assad was ousted that the security situation in Syria would be reassessed to determine whether deportations could go ahead.

Deporting people against their will is not possible until the situation in Syria has been deemed safe, so the government, led by the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) has said it will focus on voluntary deportations.

Austria has also stopped processing asylum applications filed by Syrians, in line with several other European countries, including Belgium, Denmark, Germany and the Czech Republic.

But all of those countries agree it is too early to consider returning refugees to Syria.

The EU's executive branch, the European Commission, said that currently "the conditions are not met for safe, voluntary, dignified returns to Syria."

"We need to wait a few more days to see where Syria is heading now," German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said.

"What is the situation? What about the protection of minorities? What about the protection of the people? And then, of course, there could be repatriation."

Syrians make up the largest group of asylum-seekers in Austria and Nehammer, like many conservative leaders across Europe,