The first test cases for Syrians after the fall of Assad have now been decided

After the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, all new asylum applications from Syrians were put on hold, and all extensions of residence permits under §7.3 (general risk) were put on hold. This was a natural decision, since the entire asylum situation had changed. Syrians were no longer at risk of persecution by the regime, and were no longer enrolled in a military service violating international law. But the situation in Syria was unstable and difficult to assess.

The Danish Immigration Service ultimately chose to extend all the suspended cases under §7.3 as a purely administrative decision without risk assessment, as it was not justified to keep so many residents in limbo any longer. It took a good while longer before Syrian cases began to be processed again – both those who were waiting in the asylum centers and those who already had a residence permit for other reasons but had applied for asylum. And not least those who had been granted asylum previously, but now risked having their residence permit revoked.

The test cases

In December 2025, the first interviews were conducted at the Danish Immigration Service, which expectedly led to a number of rejections. 4 cases, involving a total of 10 people, were selected and processed as test cases by the Refugee Appeals Board at the beginning of March 2026 – a standard procedure when conditions in a country have changed radically.

The 10 individual cases led to 3 final rejections and 7 reversals (asylum), of which 6 were granted consequential status. This means that there is a derived need for protection because a close family member is at risk. Either because the persecutor wants to subject the family member to abuse in order to “hit” the primary persecuted person, or because of a strong family connection to the persecuted person. The seventh was granted asylum due to her own personal circumstances.

All cases were from Damascus and Rif Damascus province. Two of the women were Kurds, the rest Arabs. Five were granted asylum under §7.2 (individual protection status) and the single Kurdish woman was granted asylum under §7.1 (convention status).
 
You can see a short summary of each case at the end of the article, and see the full summaries here (in Danish).

How should we interpret the test cases?

It was expected that the Refugee Appeals Board would agree with the Danish Immigration Service to reject some of the cases, since the risk picture has completely changed, and some Syrians are choosing to return on their own these days. So far, a total of 720 Syrian refugees have chosen to return with economic repatriation support in 2025 and 2026. Some have also been on short visits, even though they do not plan to return.
 
It was also not surprising that no one was granted asylum under §7.3, since the general conditions in Syria – at least in Damascus and the surrounding area – are not considered so dangerous that they give rise to a need for protection in themselves. There is broad agreement on this in the EU.

At the same time, however, new threats and tensions between certain groups have emerged, and many areas remain insecure. Israel has occupied territory, Turkey is attacking Kurds, and thousands have been killed since Assad fell. The new government is failing to protect minorities such as Kurds, Alawites, and Druze. And many do not trust the new self-proclaimed president, who has a history with the Islamist HTS. It was therefore positive to see the Refugee Appeals Board take the warnings from the latest background reports seriously and grant both convention status (§7.1) and individual protection status (§7.2).

This will probably upset many Danish politicians who wanted to send all Syrians home as soon as the Assad regime fell. They might see it as yet another example of the Danish state being forced into unreasonable interpretations by the EU, the Council of Europe and the UN. Nevertheless, the decisions were made by the highest Danish authority in the field and are based on background information from, in particular, the EU Asylum Agency and the Danish Immigration Service's own reports.

It will be interesting to see future decisions regarding Syrians from other areas of the country and belonging to various minorities, as well as Palestinians from Syria.

What will happen to Syrians in Denmark?

• The 600 asylum seekers, a large part of whom live in Center Holmegård, will hopefully have their cases processed by the Danish Immigration Service during this year. The agency must follow the line laid down by the Refugee Appeals Board. However, we have previously seen that this has not happened, so we must expect quite a few rejections, which will then be reversed later. In 2023, the Refugee Appeals Board reversed a full 77% of the Syrian revocation cases, and in practice everyone ended up getting a residence permit for one reason or another.

This time, however, we will probably see a certain amount of final rejections, and the issue of forced deportations will then have to be resolved. The fact that Denmark has been busy opening an embassy in Syria has a lot to do with it. The Danish authorities will try to put pressure on Syria to accept its own citizens by force – something that Iran refuses and which Iraq has been very unwilling to do.

• The 35,000 citizens with a Syrian background already living legally in Denmark are in a completely different situation. Some have obtained permanent residence or even Danish citizenship, and they should not worry at all. The two types of status cannot normally be withdrawn, and they have nothing to do with the situation in their home country.

Of all those who still have a temporary residence permit, the majority have been granted convention status under §7.1 or have been reunited with someone who has – or is the child of someone who has. It is very unlikely that authorities will start withdrawing a convention status including the accompanying family. Syria is not stable and safe enough for that.

Furthermore, the vast majority arrived between 2012 and 2016, meaning that they have had enough years of residence in Denmark to ensure their continued residence in accordance with Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Having learned Danish, supporting themselves or having completed a Danish education count as integration and attachment. Here, Danish courts have a fairly established practice, where children and young people of school age in particular weigh heavily.

Our assessment is therefore that almost all Syrians living here will be allowed to stay. Either due to continued or new risk, or due to strong attachment. But some will unfortunately have to go through the stressful process of considering revocation and new interviews with the Immigration Service.

Anyone who is nervous and has questions about their own case is welcome to contact our legal counselors for free! Send us an e-mail at kontakt@refugeeswelcome.dk

The individual decisions

All 10 cases concern Sunni Muslims from Damascus or the Rif Damascus province.
 
Family with adult children, ethnic Arabs
Syri2026/1: Single woman in her early 20s, daughter of the person below. Entered in 2015. Argued herself that she has been politically active on social media in Denmark and has participated in demonstrations, that she has been Westernized, and that she is particularly vulnerable as a woman. These motives were rejected as a ground for asylum.
• Granted §7.2 as a consequence of the father's asylum status (extended summer 2025). However, not because of risk in connection with the father's case but in consideration of family unity.
 
Syri2026/2: Married woman, mother of the above. Entered in 2015. Argued herself with risk of kidnapping and vulnerability as a woman, as well as poor health. These motives were rejected as a ground for asylum.
• Granted §7.2 as a consequence of the spouse's asylum status. However, not due to risk in connection with the spouse's case, but out of consideration for family unity.

Single woman, ethnic Kurd
Syri2026/3: Entered in 2019. The board believes that her original asylum status, which was granted due to her sons' evasion of military service, has lapsed after the change of regime.
• Granted §7.1 because the combination of being a single woman without a network in Syria and being Kurdish will put her at risk of persecution.
 
Married couple and adult daughter
Syri2026/4: Double case: the husband is ethnic Arab, the wife is ethnic Kurd, entered in 2023. Argued that he was summoned, but did not attend the interview in 2014 with the Syrian authorities. The couple's adult sons had both evaded military service and demonstrated against Assad.
• Rejection confirmed, asylum motives date back a long time and do not pose a sufficient risk today.
 
Syri2026/5: Daughter of the above couple, entered in 2023. Claimed to have been detained in 2012 and accused of being a spy for a Western country. Conflict with family member who worked for the authorities over political matters.
• Rejection confirmed, asylum motives date back a long time and do not pose sufficient risk today.

Family with both adults and minor children
Syri2026/6: Woman with two minor children, also mother of the below. Entered 2015. Argued herself with risk as a single woman without a network and with a disabled minor son. These motives were rejected as grounds for asylum. Her adult son's asylum status (§7.1) is also rejected as a consequential status.
• Granted §7.2, also to the two minor children, as a consequence of the spouse's asylum status §7.2 for the sake of family unity.
 
Syri2026/7: Single young woman, daughter of the above. Suffers from a physical disability. Entered 2015. Own motives were rejected as grounds for asylum. Her adult brother's asylum status (§7.1) was also rejected as irrelevant to her.
• Granted §7.2 as a consequence of her father's asylum status §7.2 for the sake of family unity because she has a special dependence on her father due to her disability.

See our chronological collection of articles about Syrian refugees in Denmark here.