Dutch asylum policy for Syrian Christians stays unchanged for now
Asylum and Migration Minister Bart van den Brink sees no reason to change policy on Syrian Christians, but says individual asylum claims can still win protection.
Asylum and Migration Minister Bart van den Brink sees no reason to change policy on Syrian Christians "so far", he told the Tweede Kamer in a letter. He was responding to a motion adopted on 23 June that asked the cabinet to examine their situation and adjust Syria policy if warranted.
The minister stresses that a Syrian Christian can still be granted protection after an individual assessment of their asylum claim, whether or not Christians are singled out in Syria policy.
The minister asked a research team of the IND, the immigration service, to compile a source overview. The team also approached the Christian organisation Open Doors, which did not lead to significant changes in the report. According to the minister, the overview shows that churches were open, Christians could practise their faith and generally live openly, and security forces protected churches and Christian neighbourhoods during holidays and attack threats.
The letter acknowledges a June 2025 attack on a church in Damascus that left dozens dead and injured. It was claimed by Saraya Ansar al-Sunna, a group ideologically related to ISIS. The minister calls it an incident that does not show a general situation in which Christians structurally have to fear persecution.
He also addresses the attack on the Christian town of Suqaylabiyah, where about 200 masked Sunni men from a neighbouring community damaged homes, shops and cars. The minister says it was strongly rooted in local dynamics, including an earlier quarrel and the towns' wartime history, and that it was not shown that the residents being Christian was the cause.
The situation of Christians will be reviewed again when the Foreign Affairs ministry delivers its Syria country report (ambtsbericht). It is now due in January 2027, not December 2026. Parliament will be informed if that leads to a different view.
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IND (Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst)
The Immigration and Naturalisation Service, which decides on asylum applications, residence permits and Dutch citizenship.
Open Doors
Open Doors is an international Christian organisation that supports Christians who face persecution or discrimination because of their faith. It also publishes reports and information on the situation of Christians in countries around the world. In the Netherlands it is known as a source of information on religious freedom and the position of Christians abroad, which is relevant when asylum authorities assess applications from Christians.
ambtsbericht
An ambtsbericht is an official country report, written by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that describes the political, social and human rights situation in a specific country. The IND (the Immigration and Naturalisation Service) uses these reports as a key factual basis when it decides on asylum applications from people who come from that country. Because they are updated periodically, a new ambtsbericht can change how applications from a country are assessed.