The Trump administration will allow thousands of Syrians to remain in America for at least 18 months.

In extending Temporary Protected Status to some 7,000 Syrians currently in the US, the Department of Homeland Security acknowledged that war-convulsed country remained unsafe for them to return.

“It is clear that the conditions upon which Syria’s designation was based continue to exist, therefore an extension is warranted under the statute,” Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen said in a statement.

Under the designation, Syrians who have already secured the special status can stay in the country and retain work authorisation through September of 2019.

To qualify, Syrians need to have continuously lived in the US since August of 2016 or earlier. Advocates decried that response as inadequate given the scale of devastation in Syria, warning Syrians who don't meet the criteria could be pushed back into peril.

“There is no rule of law in the government-controlled areas or in the opposition-controlled areas of Syria. All people who return from the US, then, will be viewed with deep suspicion by the Syrian government and all will be liable for arrest,” former ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, said in a statement.

Inside Syria's obliterated ‘capital of the revolution’ Show all 10 1 /10 Inside Syria's obliterated ‘capital of the revolution’ Inside Syria's obliterated ‘capital of the revolution’ The reconstructed Khaled Bin al-Waleed Mosque is framed by a damaged building, in the old city of Homs AP Inside Syria's obliterated ‘capital of the revolution’ Sumaya Bairuty, 38, an English-language teacher who works in the capital Damascus, speaks with The Associated Press while as she walks to her parents house in the war-damaged Bab Dreib neighborhood of Homs AP Inside Syria's obliterated ‘capital of the revolution’ Bairuty walks to her parents house AP Inside Syria's obliterated ‘capital of the revolution’ A family that returned to live in their apartment inside a heavily damaged building hang their carpets in the sun AP Inside Syria's obliterated ‘capital of the revolution’ A car drives through a devastated part of the old city AP Inside Syria's obliterated ‘capital of the revolution’ A pigeon keeper watches his pigeons fly from the roof of his home AP Inside Syria's obliterated ‘capital of the revolution’ Two people carry goods on a bicycle in the war-damaged neighborhood AP Inside Syria's obliterated ‘capital of the revolution’ Children play football in the street AP Inside Syria's obliterated ‘capital of the revolution’ It has been almost four years since the last rebels and civilians withdrew from the remaining strongholds in the ancient heart of Homs in Syria AP Inside Syria's obliterated ‘capital of the revolution’ A man rides his bicycle past a banner showing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad AP

The sustained protections for some Syrians in the country broke with the Trump administration’s previous decisions to rescind temporary protected status for tens of thousands of immigrants from El Salvador and Haiti.

While the grinding conflict in Syria has helped drive a global refugee crisis — according to the United Nations, some 5.5 million Syrians have been displaced — Mr Trump has pursued a hard line on immigration that includes curtailing legal immigrants like refugees.