The UK has had ‘no request’ to give refuge to the British wife of Bashar Assad, a minister said today.
Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden said the issue is ‘not something that’s been raised’ with the Government as the world digests the sudden collapse of the Syrian regime.
Asma Assad was born in London in 1975, and was raised and educated in the city. She is now believed to be in Moscow with her husband, where the ousted autocrat has fled.
The rapid collapse of the Assad regime saw a coalition of rebel groups seize control of Damascus on Sunday.
Mr McFadden was asked by the BBC what the Government would do if Mrs Assad wanted to live in the UK.
He said: ‘The family are in Russia as far as we know, that’s what Russian state media have said.
‘We’ve certainly had no contact or no request for Mr Assad’s wife to come to the UK.’
Pushed again on whether she could exercise the right to come to the UK, Mr McFadden added: ‘I couldn’t comment on her individual rights.
‘I don’t know her exact circumstances, so I don’t know what would happen in those circumstances, but it’s not something that’s been raised with us.’
He also suggested that the Government would not have to think about it ‘unless it’s raised with us’.
‘From the point of view of the UK Government, our main concern at the moment is what the future is, whether the rights of citizens and minorities are protected and whether stability can come to a country that has had so much violence and war over the past 15 years,’ Mr McFadden added.