As a result of the changing situation in Syria, at the end of 2024 the governments of many European countries, including Greece, suspended the decisions on asylum applications from Syrian nationals and stateless people who used to live in Syria. The suspension is said to be until the situation in the country has stabilised and reliable information about the security and human rights situation is available.^[1] This has created uncertainty for Syrians currently in the asylum procedure, whose lives are effectively on hold. Among those affected are separated Syrian children.

'Separated children' are children who have been separated from their parents (or other previous legal or customary primary caregiver), but who are still with other relative(s).^[3] The separation from their parents often happened due to the dangerous journeys people who seek asylum have to undertake, or are related to the reason they fled their in their home country. The adult relatives caring for these separated children in Greece can become their custodians if they are able to prove a family relationship and if granting custody over the child is in the best interest of that child. During Fenix’s service provision on Lesvos,^[2]we became aware of how some of these children and their family members are caught in a bureaucratic standstill.

Several separated children from Syria had not yet received a decision in their case at the moment that the Assad regime was overthrown. As for other Syrians, the decisions in the cases of these children are now suspended. But in these cases, the adult relatives who were granted custody over them had already received refugee protection before the asylum decisions were suspended. This means that people from the same family unit now have different legal statuses and rights. The family members recognised as refugees have the right to settle elsewhere in Greece and may have already received travel documents allowing them to visit other EU countries. While the children in their custody have to await their asylum procedure on Lesvos.

What makes this situation particularly problematic is that children under the age of 15 do not undergo an asylum interview. Instead, their legal status is linked to that of their parents or, in this case, custodian. Depending on the case, these separated children may receive the same refugee status as their custodian, or a different type of permit allowing them to stay in Greece based on the status of their custodian. In either case, the next step in their case is one of bureaucracy rather than about analysing their claim, which makes the suspension of the decisions for these children both unnecessary and harmful. In some situations that Fenix came across, the children are as young as five years old:

“After seven months I finally received my positive decision, two months later we’re still waiting for the decision for my five-year-old grandson.”

Fenix client from Syria

The freezing of their asylum procedures means that the lives of these refugee families are effectively put on hold at a time when they should be building their lives in safety: integrating into society and creating a place to call home again. Moreover, with very limited alternatives available they are forced to remain in substandard living conditions in the camp - often having to share overcrowded containers or tents, receiving low-quality food, having limited access to hot water and facing difficult weather conditions.^[6] Children’s access to education in the camp is limited and largely relying on non-formal education activities that are provided by NGOs. At the same time, these children carry the trauma of being forced to flee, which is only worsened by life in the camp. This environment, along with the stress of waiting, deeply impacts the (mental) health of these children and their family members.^[7] This is further compounded by the fact that there is no certainty about how long the decisions will be frozen for.

Besides the need to take steps in these cases in order to ensure a proper and effective asylum procedure, under international and Greek law, upholding the best interest of the child is a key obligation.^[4] This obligation is especially relevant in the case of separated children - the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has identified particular protection risks for these children.^{[5 ]} It cannot be considered to be in the best interest of the child when these separated children need to wait for progress their procedure for an indefinite period of time while being in the custody of family members with a positive decision.

Therefore, Fenix calls on the Greek Asylum Service and Ministry of Migration and Asylum to move forward with the procedures of these separated children. This would ensure that the children receive a decision in their case, opening the way for the children and their families to start building their lives in safety.

Moreover, while reassessing the situation in Syria may be necessary, the individual nature of the right to asylum must be respected. A blanket decision to freeze applications for those who have fled Syria is deeply problematic—not only harming these children but also impacting individuals whose claims are not directly related to their political opinion or activism. Furthermore, the long-term effects of Syria’s evolving political landscape remain uncertain, making it impossible to determine, in the short term, how these changes will affect people's claims. In the meantime, asylum seekers' futures, integration, and mental well-being are on the line. Ultimately, a prolonged freeze of the asylum procedure for Syrians undermines the fundamental right to seek protection.