An asylum seeker who returned to Syria from the UK after his case was rejected has urged the Government to halt deportations to the war-torn country.
The Syrian Kurd had previously mounted a legal battle against a Home Office order to be placed onboard the controversial Bibby Stockholm barge in Dorset, which was closed by Labour after the party’s 2024 election win.
It comes as Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood plans to ramp up deportations to Syria in the coming months as part of a Government asylum crackdown despite fears over violence after the fall of Bashar Al-Assad’s regime.
After leaving the UK in 2024, the Kurdish man, who wished to remain anonymous, went back to Syria and described “chaotic” scenes in the port city of Latakia when rebel forces toppled Assad that December.
Buildings linked to the dictator’s regime were set on fire and looted, with long lines of people queuing for bread as armed anti-Assad factions patrolled the street.
But despite the euphoria that swept large parts of the country after Assad was ousted, the man said Syria is now “not safe”.
In a message to Sir Keir Starmer’s Government, he told The i Paper: “Stop deportations. The new government has no control on the security of the country.
“In general it is unsafe especially for Kurds as a nation, Also it is not safe for Alawite and Druze minorities.”
There have been reprisal attacks against the Alawite community, the sect to which Assad ‘s family belongs.
Forces aligned with the Syrian government have also been accused of targeting the Druze community and carrying out atrocities.
The man was among hundreds of asylum seekers earmarked to be moved to the Bibby Stockholm barge (Photo: Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images)The man criticised the Syrian government, adding: “I knew this government is bad. They wear nice clothes, but hide death underneath.”
This week, Government minister Hamish Falconer, raised concerns about violence between Syrian government forces and Kurdish-led rebels in Aleppo and north-east Syria.
Falconer said the escalation between Syrian government forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has seen an estimated 146,000 people displaced from their homes.
The clashes had also sparked a “severe deterioration” in the humanitarian situation across north-east Syria, including Kobane, and threatened the security of facilities holding ISIS detainees, the minister said.
During weeks of fighting, Syrian troops recaptured territory that had been controlled by the SDF for more than a decade before a ceasefire was agreed this week.
Syrian government forces have been battling Kurdish forces during fierce clashes in recent weeks (Photo: Omar Hajkadour/ AFP via Getty Images)The offensive by President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s government forces left the autonomous Kurdish-dominated area known as Rojava facing its effective end.
On Friday, Syria’s government reached a deal with the SDF that would see the gradual integration of Kurdish forces and institutions into the state.
After Assad’s regime collapsed, the man described seeing burned-out houses, buildings peppered with bullet holes and cars on fire – “all done by the new Government people”.
“I thought, this is not my homeland anymore. It’s been hijacked,” he said of the violent chaos he witnessed last year.
Kurds have been “abandoned” by the world, he believes, comparing Syria’s government to ISIS and accusing it of launching a “barbaric” attack on the Kurdish north eastern region.
He called on the UK Government to protect Kurds, who he said should not be deported back to Syria.
“Keep the Kurdish people in the UK as Syria is not safe for them – unless Rojava is announced as an independent area,” he said.
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“We are worried if those people take over Rojava they will continue to Kurdistan also.”
After the ISIS seized around a third of Syria and Iraq in 2014, the SDF lost around 11,000 fighters battling the brutal jihadist group.
He added: “Kurdish people saved the world in 2014 and no-one wants to help.”
The Government says Kurds in areas under de facto Syrian National Army (SNA) control are likely to face a real risk of persecution or serious harm from the SNA/
A Home Office spokesman said: “As outlined in the asylum policy statement, we are exploring resuming enforced returns to countries where we have not routinely carried out such removals in recent years, including to Syria.”
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