A Dutch court has rejected the asylum application of a woman who traveled back and forth to Syria "at least six times" since the civil war in the country broke out.

The Administrative Jurisdiction Division of the Council of State in The Hague, which is the highest administrative court in the Netherlands, announced earlier in the week that the Syrian woman had thereby demonstrated that she "does not run a real risk of serious harm" if she returns to Syria, which would make her asylum case redundant.

"She stayed there for periods of one to three months without any safety problems in an area controlled by the Syrian regime. The minister has provided good reasons for how these circumstances play a role in her decision not to grant this woman an asylum permit," the court wrote in its statement.

A complex case between three countries

The Syrian national, who was born in 1993, had fled Syria in 2013 for Egypt, where she stayed with a man who is now her ex-husband.

It was during her time in Egypt that she traveled back and forth to Syria at least six times, according to the Dutch court. Whenever she went back to Syria, she would stay with her parents in an area controlled by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

Her most recent return to Syria was in 2019, where she stayed with her parents until the end of October 2021 while working as a school teacher.

"She has always entered and exited legally and under the supervision of the Syrian authorities and has not encountered any problems," the court said.

At the end of October 2021, she left Syria without permission from the authorities, traveled to the Netherlands and applied for asylum, which was subsequently rejected.

Illness, death and child birth: insufficient for asylum

Meanwhile, there was also a second case independent of the first one with a similar set of legal circumstances.

This asylum applicant, another Syrian woman who had returned to Syria on casual journeys despite lodging an asylum claim in the Netherlands, had used a certain type of travel permit issued to her by the Dutch government as part of the residence permit she had been given in 2018.

However, that permit was withdrawn within 18 months, as the woman had deregistered from her local municipality database as a local resident. Furthermore, she failed at the time to seek legal action against the withdrawal of the permit and the travel document associated with it.

According to the court, the woman went to Syria via Lebanon during that period to visit her sick mother just outside the capital, Damascus. She shared in court hearings that during that time, the mother passed away, which prolonged her stay in Syria.

Furthermore, the court learned that the woman also gave birth and broke her leg, needing additional medical attention while there.

The Syrian woman told the court that due to all these unforeseen events, she had to stay in Syria much longer than originally intended, totalling over a year.

Dutch policy on returning Syrians

The court rejected her request on the basis that she had returned to Syria "without any problems and did not experience any security problems during her stay."

The woman, however, appealed the court's decision, stating that it is not safe to return to Syria due to the country's volatility and arguing that Syrian state actors can "act arbitrarily."

The woman stated that the court should also not distinguish between Syrians who have returned to Syria and Syrians who have opted not to.

The Dutch government's policy of handling Syrian asylum seekers is based on the blanket assumption that due to the "unclear security situation in Syria and the unpredictable behavior of Syrian authorities," Syrians are at risk of serious harm.

However, if a Syrian refugee has returned to Syria without facing any problems there, the Dutch government would no longer have to make that assumption.

In such cases, their asylum request and risk of harm would have to be reevaluated. The government will consider the person's individual situation, along with the general security conditions in Syria, to decide if they are at real risk of serious harm.

In other words, Syrian nationals in the Netherland are given the 'benefit of the doubt,' according to the court statement -- as long as they do not return home. The more frequently they visit their native country, the more likely they are to be scrutinized