Britain, Germany, France, Italy and several other European countries said they would freeze all pending asylum requests from Syrians, just days after the removal of President Bashar al-Assad.
While Berlin and other governments said they were watching the fast-moving developments in the war-ravaged nation, Austria signalled it would soon deport refugees back to Syria.
Far-right politicians elsewhere made similar demands, including in Germany — home to Europe's largest Syrian community — at a time when .
Alice Weidel, of the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party, reacted with disdain to Sunday's mass rallies by jubilant Syrians celebrating Assad's downfall.
"Anyone in Germany who celebrates 'free Syria' evidently no longer has any reason to flee," she wrote on X. "They should return to Syria immediately."
World leaders and Syrians abroad , ending Assad's brutal rule while also sparking new uncertainty.
A German foreign ministry spokesman pointed out that "the fact that the Assad regime has been ended is unfortunately no guarantee of peaceful developments" in the future.
Germany has taken in almost one million Syrians, with most arriving in 2015-16 under ex-chancellor Angela Merkel.
Interior minister Nancy Faeser said many Syrian refugees: "now finally have hope of returning to their Syrian homeland" but cautioned that: "the situation in Syria is currently very unclear".
The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees had imposed a freeze on decisions for ongoing asylum procedures "until the situation is clearer".
She added that "concrete possibilities of return cannot yet be predicted and it would be unprofessional to speculate in such a volatile situation".
Rights group Amnesty International criticised Germany's freeze on asylum decisions, stressing that for now: "the human rights situation in the country is completely unclear".
The head of the UN refugee agency also cautioned that "patience and vigilance" were needed on the issue of refugee returns.
'Repatriation and deportation'
In Austria, where about 100,000 Syrians live, conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer instructed the interior ministry "to suspend all ongoing Syrian asylum applications and to review all asylum grants".
Austria's interior minister Gerhard Karner added he had "instructed the ministry to prepare an orderly repatriation and deportation programme to Syria".
"The political situation in Syria has changed fundamentally and, above all, rapidly in recent days," the ministry said, adding it is "currently monitoring and analysing the new situation".
The French interior ministry said it too would put asylum requests from Syrians on hold, with authorities in Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway announcing similar moves.
Britain's interior ministry said it was taking the same measure "whilst we assess the current situation".
The Italian government said on late Monday after a cabinet meeting that it too was suspending asylum requests "in line with other European partners".
The leader of the far-right Sweden Democrats, a coalition partner in the government, said residence permits for Syrian refugees should now be "reviewed".
"Destructive Islamist forces are behind the change of power" in Syria, wrote their leader Jimmie Akesson on X.
"I see that groups are happy about this development here in Sweden. You should see it as a good opportunity to go home."
In Greece, a government spokesman voiced hope that Assad's fall will eventually allow "the safe return of Syrian refugees" to their country, but without announcing concrete measures.
Syria rebel leader discusses 'transfer of power' after Assad's fall
Syria's Islamist rebel leader on Monday started discussions on transferring power, a day after his opposition alliance dramatically unseated Assad.
Rebel leader , met with Prime Minister Mohammed al-Jalali "to coordinate a transfer of power that guarantees the provision of services" to Syria's people, said a statement posted on the rebels' Telegram channels.
At the core of the system of rule that Assad inherited from his father Hafez was a brutal complex of prisons and detention centres used to eliminate dissent by those suspected of stepping out of the ruling Baath party's line.
UN Security Council convenes over situation in Syria
Members of the UN Security Council on Monday discussed the fluid situation in Syria after Assad’s fall, opting to stand by and await further developments, according to ambassadors who attended the closed-door meeting.
"The Council, I think, was more or less united on the need to preserve the territorial integrity and unity of Syria, to ensure the protection of civilians, to ensure that humanitarian aid is coming," Russian UN ambassador Vassili Nebenzia told reporters after the emergency meeting requested by Moscow.
"But look, everyone was taken by surprise by the events, everyone, including the members of the council. So we have to wait, (to see how the situation will evolve)," he said.
Deputy US ambassador to the UN Robert Wood called it "a very fluid situation".
"No one expected the Syrian forces to fall like a house of cards," he said.
"As many folks said in the consultations ... the situation is extremely fluid and is likely to change day to day for the time being."
