Jens Spahn, a senior member of Germany’s opposition Christian Democrats ( cdu ), suggested handing €1,000 ($1,050) to any Syrian who wished to go home. Austria’s government even instructed officials to prepare deportation plans.

Najem al-Moussa was delighted when news of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's overthrow first beamed from the television in his tiny Athens apartment. Then came a dreaded thought: what if Assad's fall meant he and his family would be forced to return to the devastated country they had fled nine years before?

Assad's regime, many Syrians abroad are celebrating the demise of the long-time ruler. But as European nations now review their asylum policies, some fear they will be forced back to the country before it is stable.

An American man identifying himself as Travis Timmerman has been found near the Syrian capital Damascus after being freed from a prison as rebels took over the country.

Travis Timmerman, a missing American from Missouri, was freed from a Syrian prison and found Thursday outside of Damascus trying to make his way out of the country on foot.

Drone footage from Syria's Latakia showed damage caused to ships in the port on Wednesday (December 11) after Israel said it had conducted strikes on Syrian naval facilities.