Austria's Interior Minister Gerhard Karner has cancelled his planned trip to Syria, which was set for Thursday, due to specific warnings regarding a potential terrorist threat. The Austrian Interior Ministry announced that the decision to abort the trip was made jointly with Germany's Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, emphasizing that the safety of the delegations and security personnel could not be assured under the current circumstances. Currently, both ministers are in Amman, Jordan, and the anticipated journey to Damascus has been called off. The discussions were intended to focus on security issues and the prospects for the return of Syrian refugees should stability return to Syria. This trip had not been publicly disclosed prior to its announcement and was organized with stringent security measures in place. The agenda included meetings between Faeser and Karner, representatives from the United Nations, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), UNICEF, and the World Food Programme. They were also scheduled to meet with the interior and foreign ministers of the Syrian transitional government. Following the cancellation, Minister Karner will attend a meeting at the UNHCR office in Jordan before returning to Austria. Austria and Germany are actively working towards the expedited return of serious offenders and individuals posing security risks who are of Syrian nationality. Discussions on these matters with the Syrian transitional government are intended to take place as soon as possible. According to recent estimates from the United Nations, approximately 280,000 Syrians have returned to Syria since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad's regime in December. Almost 30% of the millions of Syrian refugees in the Middle East are reportedly inclined to return in the coming year. In Austria, as per Statistics Austria, there are currently about 104,699 Syrians living in the country, as of February 11. Following the overthrow of Assad, asylum decisions for Syrians have been suspended, and over 2,400 revocation procedures have been initiated. Additionally, the government recently decided to pause family reunification processes for refugees, with only 39 Syrians granted asylum status this year. In Germany, approximately 975,000 Syrian nationals were residing in the country at the beginning of the year, according to reports from the German news agency dpa. Among them were about 10,200 individuals facing deportation, with roughly 9,100 holding temporary protection status. The German Interior Ministry has been working for over two months on a regulation that would allow Syrian refugees to travel back to their homeland temporarily without jeopardizing their protection status in Germany. The Syrian civil war, which began in 2011 following the violent suppression of protests against the Assad government, has resulted in more than 500,000 fatalities. Millions have fled their homes due to the conflict and the ensuing humanitarian and economic crises. In Turkey, which shares a 900-kilometer border with Syria, around 2.9 million Syrian refugees have sought refuge. The regime of Bashar al-Assad was overthrown on December 8 by a rebel alliance led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), forcing Assad to flee to Russia. The country is now governed by a transitional government led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa. Recently, a surprise attack by pro-Assad forces has led to a military operation in the northwestern coastal region, resulting in significant casualties, including many civilian lives. Despite these ongoing conflicts, there have been some positive developments, such as a recent agreement between the transitional government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) reached on March 10.