Today, the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) published a Country of Origin Information (COI) report titled "Syria - Socio-economic situation: Damascus City". This report is part of a series of Syria reports produced in 2019-2020. These reports cover actors of protection, internal mobility, key socio-economic indicators, and targeting of individuals. The reports provide information relevant for international protection status determination for Syrian asylum seekers, and will be used in the development of a country guidance note on Syria.

Syrians continued to be the top citizenship applying for asylum in the EU+ uninterruptedly since 2013, although the number of applications lodged between January and November 2019 (some 65 600) was lower than in the same period in 2018 (about 69 900). Three in every four Syrian applications (almost 75%) were lodged in four EU+ countries.

Syrian applicants also received more first-instance decisions than any other citizenship group. Since the beginning of 2019, Syrian applicants received some 72 200 decisions. Syria was also the country of origin whose nationals had the most cases pending at first instance in the EU+. At the end of November 2019, there were some 49 000 Syrian applications awaiting a first-instance decision, some 80% of which were pending in just five EU+ countries.

The report, Syria - Socio-economic situation: Damascus City, explores key socio-economic indicators for the Governorate of Damascus, such as housing, healthcare, and education, as well as issues such as freedom of movement.

The report was drafted by Country of Origin Information (COI) researchers from EASO, in accordance with the EASO COI Report Methodology, and was reviewed by the COI Department of the Austrian Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum. Additionally, ACCORD, the Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation conducted an external review.

Additional information to complement this report can be found in the following EASO reports:

• EASO COI Report: Syria – Security situation (November 2019)
• EASO COI Report: Syria – Actors (December 2019)
• EASO COI Report: Syria – Exercise of authority in recaptured areas (January 2020)
• EASO COI Report: Syria – Situation of women (February 2020)

Photo: © iStock/Ugurhan