Syrians Allowed to Apply for US Temporary Protected Status Until 2018

The US authorities allowed Syrians to apply for temporary protected status until 2018.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The US authorities have extended the permission for Syrian citizens to register or re-register for temporary protected status in the United States, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services announced in a press release on Monday.

"Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson has redesignated Syria for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and extended the existing TPS designation for the country from Oct. 1, 2016, through March 31, 2018," the release stated.

The UN special envoy for Syria estimated that over 400,000 people have died over the past six years, with over 4.8 million Syrian refugees in the region, and over 6.6 million internally displaced.

Syria has been mired in civil war since 2011, with government forces loyal to President Bashar Assad fighting numerous opposition factions and extremist groups. On February 27, a US-Russia-brokered ceasefire came into force in Syria.

Terrorist groups such as Daesh, as well as Jabhat Fatah al Sham (previously known as al-Nusra Front), both outlawed in Russia and a range of other states, are not part of the deal.