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IMMIGRATION

Danish government’s expert sources call country’s Syria report ‘incomplete and misleading’

Eight out of twelve expert sources used by the Danish government in its assessments of the security situation in Syria have gone public to distance themselves from the conclusions of the final report.

Danish government’s expert sources call country’s Syria report ‘incomplete and misleading’
A boy walks past shops in Douma, in the eastern suburbs of Damascus, Syria March 10, 2021. Picture taken March 10, 2021. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki

In a joint statement reported by newspaper BT, the eight individuals and organisations – researchers, analysts and experts on the area — said the content of the report is “incomplete and misleading”. 

Around 500 Syrian refugees in Denmark are to have their cases re-evaluated with a view to their return to Damascus or its outlying province, Rif Dimashq. That is based on a conclusion by Danish authorities that low conflict level locally means it is safe enough for people who fled from that area to return.

At least 94 refugees have already had their asylum status revoked, according to earlier reports.

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Denmark’s judgement that Damascus and the surrounding area are safe for return is not based on information from the UN’s refugee agency UNHCR or the EU, but on reports produced under the auspices of the Danish Immigration Service.

As The Local previously detailed, the assessment in the most recent Danish report from October 2020 is “based on information from written sources as well as information obtained through Skype meetings and email correspondences” and not on a physical visit to the area, according to the text of the report itself.

A number of contributors to the report have now publicly stated their disagreement with its conclusions.

“We, the undersigned analysts, researchers and other experts on the Syrian context, strongly condemn the Danish government’s decision to remove ‘temporary protection’ for Syrian refugees from Damascus,” the joint statement reads.

“This decision used our testimonies… for a country of origin report on Damascus, but we do not recognise our views in subsequent government conclusions or policies,” it continues.

The signatories to the statement are Ammar Hamou, editor of media Syria Direct; Bente Scheller of the Heinrich Boell Foundation; COAR Global; Jusoor for Studies Centre; Jennifer Cafarella (on behalf Christopher Kozak formerly of ISW); Omran Center for Strategic Studies; Sara Kayyali of Human Rights Watch; and Suhail al-Ghazi, Syrian researcher and non-resident fellow at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy.

The statement can be read in full (in English) via BT’s report.

Kayyali told broadcaster TV2 that she made it clear to the Danish immigration authorities that “Syria is not safe for returns”.

In comments to BT, Scheller called the quality of the Danish report “very poor”.

Denmark is coming increasingly under the spotlight over the decision revoke the status of refugees from Damascus. No other country in Europe has taken such a stance.

International media including CNN, the New York Times and the Guardian have all recently reported on the situation.

Immigration minister Mattias Tesfaye told both TV2 and BT in a written comment that he retained “confidence in authorities’ assessment of the security situation” in Syria.

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CRIME

Germany mulls expulsions to Afghanistan after knife attack

Germany said Tuesday it was considering allowing deportations to Afghanistan, after an asylum seeker from the country injured five and killed a police officer in a knife attack.

Germany mulls expulsions to Afghanistan after knife attack

Officials had been carrying out an “intensive review for several months… to allow the deportation of serious criminals and dangerous individuals to Afghanistan”, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told journalists.

“It is clear to me that people who pose a potential threat to Germany’s security must be deported quickly,” Faeser said.

“That is why we are doing everything possible to find ways to deport criminals and dangerous people to both Syria and Afghanistan,” she said.

Deportations to Afghanistan from Germany have been completely stopped since the Taliban retook power in 2021.

But a debate over resuming expulsions has resurged after a 25-year-old Afghan was accused of attacking people with a knife at an anti-Islam rally in the western city of Mannheim on Friday.

A police officer, 29, died on Sunday after being repeatedly stabbed as he tried to intervene in the attack.

Five people taking part in a rally organised by Pax Europa, a campaign group against radical Islam, were also wounded.

Friday’s brutal attack has inflamed a public debate over immigration in the run up to European elections and prompted calls to expand efforts to expel criminals.

READ ALSO: Tensions high in Mannheim after knife attack claims life of policeman

The suspect, named in the media as Sulaiman Ataee, came to Germany as a refugee in March 2013, according to reports.

Ataee, who arrived in the country with his brother at the age of only 14, was initially refused asylum but was not deported because of his age, according to German daily Bild.

Ataee subsequently went to school in Germany, and married a German woman of Turkish origin in 2019, with whom he has two children, according to the Spiegel weekly.

Per the reports, Ataee was not seen by authorities as a risk and did not appear to neighbours at his home in Heppenheim as an extremist.

Anti-terrorism prosecutors on Monday took over the investigation into the incident, as they looked to establish a motive.

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