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Danish authorities criticised for use of physical force on asylum seeker

A video has spread on social media appearing to show hard use of physical force by Danish authorities during the deportation of a woman whose asylum claims were rejected.

Published: 31 March 2022 17:51 CEST
Danish authorities criticised for use of physical force on asylum seeker
A screenshot from a Twitter video showing Danish authorities conducting an forced deportation at the Avnstrup asylum centre on March 29th. Screenshot used with permission

Immigration Minister Mattias Tesfaye has been summoned to a parliamentary committee, at which lawmakers from other parties can demand the minister respond to the incident, broadcaster DR reports.

The video was shared by Trampoline House, a Danish independent citizens’ resource NGO for asylum seekers and refugees. The organisation wrote on social media that the woman, a mother of three, was injected with a tranquiliser during the attempted deportation.

In the video, which was taken at the Avnstrup asylum centre, four people can be seen holding the woman to the ground, with her head held against the paving stones. She is visibly shaking in the footage. A man in civilian clothing then brings restraints which are used to tie her.

The Danish Return Agency (Hjemrejsestyrelsen), the agency responsible for processing deportations, and the North Zealand police told news wire Ritzau that medicine had not been administered to the woman, however. They confirmed that physical restraint was used.

The woman, an Iranian national, was to be deported from Denmark with her two oldest children while her youngest child, who is one year old, remains in Denmark with its father, according to Trampoline House, which also wrote on social media that splitting the family represents a breach of the ECHR’s right to family life.

She is also reported to hold an expired Iranian passport.

“I can’t bear to think of the fate that awaits the Kurdish woman who was yesterday forcibly deported. I have called Tesfaye in to consultation so he can explain if this is really how we treat people if it’s up to the government,” Sikandar Siddique of the Independent Green party wrote on Twitter.

Rosa Lund of the Red Green Alliance said in comments to newspaper Politiken she was unaware Denmark was able to forcibly deport rejected asylum seekers to Iran because this would require a repatriation agreement with Iran, which Denmark does not have.

The Ministry of Immigration and Integration told the newspaper that this is in fact possible for persons who have an Iranian travel document, regardless of whether the document is valid.

“This forced deportation testifies to a complete failure of the Danish asylum policy. Both ethically and practically,” Trampoline House told The Local in a written comment.

The organisation called for more humane treatment of vulnerable asylum seekers and argued that this would in fact benefit the established policy of deporting persons whose claims for asylum are not granted.

“In Denmark we take away people’s basic rights and confine them into isolated camps. In the Netherlands the rejected are allowed to work, study and enjoy a much more normal life, until departure date,” it added, noting that in 2017, 4.4 percent of rejected asylum seekers left Denmark voluntarily, while the Netherlands recorded a proportion of 44 percent.

READ ALSO: Inside Denmark’s Kærshovedgård deportation camp

According to broadcaster TV2, the Danish Return Agency has confirmed that the woman left Denmark on a flight following the episode captured in the video, but has now returned to the country after sustaining an injury during the journey. 

Danish law allows the use of physical force in deportations if necessary when a person without legal residence status in Denmark does not comply voluntarily with their deportation travel.

According to the country’s Aliens Act (Ulændingeloven), such enforced deportation must be “with respect for the individual and without unnecessary use of force”.

Police are responsible for carrying out deportations based on the decisions made by immigration authorities.

“If people don’t leave voluntarily, they can be deported forcibly. As long as you stick to restraint and don’t turn to violence, it’s within the framework [legally, ed.],” Niels Henrik Christensen, a lawyer specialised in asylum, refugee and immigration law, told TV2.

“Force is used and (authorities) have that right. Nothing in the video surprises me. I’m not saying that to defend it, but that is allowed,” he said.

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IMMIGRATION

Local authority demands changes at Denmark’s Kærshovedgård asylum camp

Elected officials in the local Ikast-Brande Municipality have demanded the government act following a recent damning report on conditions at the Kærshovedgård ‘departure centre’.

Published: 30 April 2024 16:40 CEST
Local authority demands changes at Denmark’s Kærshovedgård asylum camp

Local politicians in Ikast-Brande have reportedly run out of patience with crime and security issues at the Kærshovedgård ‘departure centre’ for rejected asylum seekers and convicted felons awaiting deportation.

The officials have stated their position in a letter sent by the Ikast-Brande municipal council to Mininster for Immigration and Integration Kaare Dybvad Bek, newswire Ritzau reports.

That comes after conditions at the centre were the focus of a stinging rebuke in a report by the Ombudsman, the Danish parliamentary watchdog, in a report published last week.

READ ALSO: Danish watchdog slams ‘deteriorating’ conditions at Kærshovedgård asylum facility

In the report, the ombudsman said conditions at the centre have deteriorated and are now so poor that they prevent residents from “living basic life”, while security at the facility was also criticised.

“We cannot passively look on as criminal residents who have been sentenced to deportation and who live at Kærshovedgård Departure Centre repeatedly commit new crimes and create insecurity in the local community,” the officials write in the letter.

Incidents named in the letter including drugs cases and a recent fatal traffic accident for which a resident of Kærshovedgård is the subject of police charges.

“We need a solution now,” the council writes without providing any specific suggestions as to which measures could be taken.

While state funds have been provided for the purposes of improving safety in the community neighbouring the facility, this does not go far enough according to the authors of the letter.

“The crime which is committed by some of the residents of the departure centre is not reduced by this funding. It is the residents, their behaviour and their movements which should be in focus,” they say.

READ ALSO: New film reveals life at Denmark’s controversial deportation centre

Located 13 kilometres from Ikast in Jutland, the Kærshovedgård facility is one of two deportation centres in Denmark used to house rejected male and female asylum seekers who have not agreed to voluntary return, as well as persons with so-called ‘tolerated stay’ (tålt ophold) status. Some residents are foreign nationals with criminal records who have served their sentences but are awaiting deportation.

The residents do not have permission to reside in Denmark but many cannot be forcibly deported because Denmark has no diplomatic relations or return agreements with their home countries.

Kærshovedgård first became prominent in the mid-2010s, when it received criticism for imposing conditions that could lead to mental illnesses in residents.

“The security situation for the residents of Kærshovedgård appears to have worsened since the ombudsman’s last visit, and this is a development that should be rectified,” the ombudsman, Niels Fenger, said in a statement on Friday.

Fenger said he was “of the impression that residents experience greater feelings of insecurity at the departure centre [and there is] a lot of crime including the sale of narcotics.”

“Additionally, the atmosphere at the departure centre carries a sense of deterioration and a significant number of residents have addiction problems,” the ombudsman statement said.

The ombudsman also observed that, since a previous visit in 2017, “there has been a change in the composition of residents in that people who have a deportation [criminal, ed.] sentence and who did not previously live at Kærshovedgård now make up the largest group at the location”.

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