In a press release issued on Monday afternoon, the agency said that until the outcome of the regime's fall becomes clear, it will be impossible to determine whether or not asylum applicants require protection.
"Given the situation, it is simply impossible to make a judgement on the need for protection," the agency's legal chief, Carl Bexelius, said in a written statement. "The situation is fragile and recent events raise several legal questions that require a thorough analysis. A similar decision was also made in connection with the Taliban's takeover of power in Afghanistan in 2021."
Sweden's move followed similar decisions taken by counterparts elsewhere, with the Danish Refugee Appeals Board putting 69 cases under review, and Norway's UDI putting all asylum applications from Syrians on hold.
The agency will provide more information on the background to the decision on Tuesday, when it is set to formally decide to pause applications.
Migration Minister Johan Forssell said after the decision that the country does not see any signs that the collapse of the Assad regime will result in a new wave of refugees arriving in Sweden.
"But we know that things can change quickly and we're prepared to act if needed," he said. "What's important is that we don't repeat the same mistakes we made in 2015 when we lost control over the situation."
Jimmie Åkesson, the leader of the Sweden Democrats, told Syrians in the country to "go home" following the collapse of the regime on Sunday, although Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard rejected the suggestion, stressing that the foreign ministry strongly advises against travel to the country.
"I want to be very clear. The foreign ministry's warning is the strongest possible. You shouldn't just refrain from travelling to the country, you should also leave the country," she told public broadcaster SVT's current affairs programme, Agenda, on Sunday.
The government's overall aim is that asylum seekers should have temporary residence permits and leave Sweden when the situation improves in their home country – alternatively learn the language and become Swedish citizens. But both Malmer Stenergard and Forssell said it was too soon to discuss reviewing residence permits in the case of Syria.
Forssell noted that it's up to the Migration Agency to decide when a person no longer has the right to protection.
"According to EU law, the changes need to be significant and lasting," Forssell told the TT news agency in an email.
Last year, more than 197,000 Syrian-born people were living in Sweden, out of whom 44,706 were Syrian citizens without Swedish citizenship.
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