ever the beacon of benevolence, Europe prepares to deport Syrian refugees back to a hellish maelstrom.

as Syria burns under Israeli airstrikes and factional violence, Europe tightens its borders and washes its hands.

Good day, spectators,

And it was just another night in Syria. Another massive series of airstrikes. This time, the IGF (Israeli Genocide Forces) targeted the port city of Latakia, damaging ten naval vessels and hitting dangerously close to residential areas. For Syrians on the ground, this is their grim reality now—violence from all sides. And yet, in the midst of all this, European governments are gleefully rubbing their hands together and preparing to send Syrian refugees back, citing vague ideas of “improved security” in a country where no such thing exists yet and hasn’t for many years. In fact, the country doesn’t really exist at all right now.

Interim Syrian Prime Minister, Mohammed al-Bashir from HTS sitting with the new Syrian flag, notably next to an Islamic shahada flag.

Currently, Syria is a maelstrom of factional violence, sprinkled with increasingly intense Israeli airstrikes. Disturbing videos of war crimes frequently surface online, such as those showing Syrian National Army fighters—Türkiye-backed mercenaries ironically misnamed—executing Kurdish men in hospital beds and hunting civilians in the streets.

Europe knows this. Yet it insists on sending people back into the fire. It’s a betrayal of the very human rights values these governments so often pretend to uphold and the only reason they’re doing it is to appease growing anti-immigration sentiment in a portion of the electorate.

Austria has announced it is halting its asylum process for Syrians and is planning to deport a large portion who were already awaiting asylum. Similar moves have been made in Germany and the United Kingdom with others to follow.

Stefan Keuter of Germany's far-right AfD Party unsurprisingly says: "We want to get rid of these people. They have to go home and rebuild their countries."

But he is representative of a certain portion of the electorate which the governments are now seeking to appease.

“everything is fine in Syria now.”

It’s not fine. In fact, Syria is not “safe” in any meaningful sense of the word. Israeli airstrikes, like the one that struck Latakia last night, are increasing in frequency, targeting naval vessels and creeping dangerously close to towns filled with civilians. This is only one part of the chaos that has engulfed Syria since the collapse of the Assad regime. Far from stabilising, the country has fragmented into competing zones of control dominated by militias, foreign-backed proxies, and opportunistic factions.

In the north, Türkiye exerts heavy influence, backing groups like the Syrian National Army (SNA), whose atrocities are documented in horrifyingly thorough detail. Videos show SNA fighters storming hospitals and executing patients in their beds—an image that would probably make even the IGF shudder. There’s nothing safe in Syria.

Warning: war crimes within. Video shows SNA entering a hospital and shooting patients in their beds.

Meanwhile, Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led by Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, rules over Idlib, posturing as a stabilising force but failing to address other parts of the country or these Israeli airstrikes entirely. Jolani’s silence in the face of these attacks raises uncomfortable questions about his priorities, allegiances and appropriateness to lead.

Kurdish forces, on the other hand, remain locked in an existential struggle—fending off Turkish aggression and extremist groups alike. For civilians, survival is a gamble, with Syria now reduced to a patchwork of contested territories where violence is the norm, not the exception. As always, it is the Kurds who bear the brunt of this whole thing. And believe me, the irony that the Syrian Democratic Forces, made up predominantly of Kurds, are funded by one NATO country (the USA) while being attacked by another (Türkiye) should not be lost on anyone—and it certainly isn’t lost on me.

European leaders cannot claim ignorance. They know full well the risks of sending people back to this farce of a state. But deportations will be framed as “necessary” by “left-wing” governments eager to showcase how they can be reactionary too. They point to supposed “improvements” in security—claims as dishonest as they are cruel.

For those who will be deported, the message is clear: Europe really doesn’t want you.

a betrayal of humanity.

These governments know exactly what they’re doing. They know that those they send back face airstrikes, factional violence, and the brutal realities of a state torn apart from within and from outside. Yet, they will do it. Europe loves to lecture the world on human rights, wagging its pointy finger at nations that fail to protect their most vulnerable. But when it comes to Syrians, or Palestinians, or Lebanese or anyone brown really, the message is clear: you are not our problem.

Syrian refugees in Europe. Some have been in peaceful, secular European countries for a decade or more. They work, contribute and many have children born here.

History will remember these deportations for what they are: a betrayal. And when the next airstrike turns another neighbourhood to rubble, the blood will not just be on the hands of those dropping the bombs but also on those who sent people back to die under them.

And on that note, I will let you go for today,

(As always, thanks for reading and if you enjoyed this post, please give it a ❤️ and restack below.)

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