CENTRAL EUROPE: Austria has reportedly resumed Dublin transfers to Italy ― Sharp increase in withdrawal of protection for Syrian refugees in Germany ― Evidence of growing anti-Ukrainian sentiment in Poland ― Court ruling paves way for return of some Af…

CENTRAL EUROPE: Austria has reportedly resumed Dublin transfers to Italy ― Sharp increase in withdrawal of protection for Syrian refugees in Germany ― Evidence of growing anti-Ukrainian sentiment in Poland ― Court ruling paves way for return of some Afghan refugees from Switzerland ― Swiss government extends ‘S Status’ protection for Ukrainians until March 2028 with caveats

• Four asylum applicants have reportedly been transferred from Austria to Italy since the entry into application of the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum in June.
• There has been a major increase in the number of Syrian nationals who are losing their protection status in Germany.
• A number of recent incidents in Poland have indicated that Anti-Ukrainian sentiment is on the rise in the country.
• A court in Switzerland has ruled that some Afghan refugees may be returned to their home country.
• The Swiss government has extended the ‘S Status’ protection for Ukrainians until March 2028 whilst imposing restrictions.

Four asylum applicants have reportedly been transferred from Austria to Italy since the entry into application of the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum in June. On 19 August, the ANSA news agency reported that the move followed “similar ones by Germany and Switzerland”. It also noted that it had asked the Italian government for a comment about the alleged transfers but that none was given. In addition to Austria, Germany and Switzerland, at least three other EU member states (Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden) have also announced that they will resume transfers of people back to Italy under the Asylum and Migration Management Regulation (i.e. the EU legislation that has replaced the Dublin III Regulation). The issue of returns appears to be creating tensions between the Italian government and its European counterparts. On 23 August, Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini told a rally of his Lega Party members: “Germany has no right to send back a single illegal immigrant as long as there are German NGO ships sailing the Mediterranean unloading thousands of illegal immigrants in Italy and Europe”.

There has been a major increase in the number of Syrian nationals who are losing their protection status in Germany. Responding to a question from the Left Party, the Federal Government stated that in the first half of 2026, 23.2% of 8,320 reviews had ended with protection being “revoked or withdrawn”. In 2025 (i.e. the first year following the end of the Assad regime), only 3.7% of reviewed Syrian cases had resulted in “protection being withdrawn”. In 2024, this figure was only 3.1%. According to the Syrian Observer online newspaper, although Berlin “continues to encourage voluntary returns for individuals who no longer meet protection criteria”, forced deportations remain “extremely rare”. It also reported that only three deportations had been recorded during the first half of 2026. However, in March, Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated that “over the longer term of the next three years (…) 80% of the Syrians currently in Germany should return to their homeland”.

A number of recent incidents in Poland have indicated that Anti-Ukrainian sentiment on the rise in the country. On 26 July, a Ukrainian couple were hospitalised after they were attacked by three men on a street in Wrocław. The previous month, two Ukrainian teenagers who were speaking Ukrainian on a bus in the city of Plock were reportedly told: “Poland’s for Poles. Speak Polish in Poland!” and “Get off the bus! Get out of the country!”. Elsewhere, the Ukrainian founder of a helpline and support group for female Ukrainian refugees escaping gender-based violence told the AP news agency that calls for donations “frequently trigger a torrent of online abuse”, a situation that she attributed to her Ukrainian nationality. According to the Rzeczpospolita newspaper, Polish police have reported a 30% increase in hate crime attacks on Ukrainians over the past six months while a survey conducted by the Centre for Public Opinion Research found that 52% of Poles opposed accepting any more Ukrainian refugees (42% were in favour). In 2022, 94% of Poles had said that they supported accepting Ukrainian refugees.

A court in Switzerland has ruled that some Afghan refugees may be returned to their home country. According to a press release issued by the Federal Administrative Court in the city of St Gallen, judges rejected an appeal from a young Afghan man whose asylum application had been rejected at the end of 2025. The court found that, although returns should remain restricted, some were now possible under certain “favourable individual circumstances”. The applicant was reportedly young, healthy, a member of he Pashtun majority ethnic group and had both professional experience and a family network in Kabul on which he could rely. Commenting on the judgment, ECRE member organisation the Swiss Refugee Council stated that it “regrets this decision and continues to strongly criticise the underlying change in practice”.

The Swiss government has extended the ‘S Status’ protection for Ukrainians until March 2028 whilst imposing restrictions. The move, which was announced on 19 August, follows the recent decision by EU member states to extend the EU’s temporary protection regime until the same deadline. In line with the revised EU regime, S Status protection will only be granted to people who are “complying with the military obligations that apply in Ukraine”. Commenting on the decision, the Swiss Refugee Council stated that, while it welcomed the extension, it opposed the exclusion of people who were subject to mandatory military service. “This measure can jeopardise the wellbeing of children and the right to family life,” it warned.

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