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Denmark reverses residence decisions for hundreds of Syrian refugees

A large number of refugees from Syria who had their asylum status in Denmark revoked have since seen those decisions overturned, according to official figures.

Published: 13 June 2022 15:32 CEST
People in Denmark protest in April 2021 against repatriation of Syrian refugees.
People in Denmark protest in April 2021 against repatriation of Syrian refugees. Photo: Philip Davali/Ritzau Scanpix

Hundreds of Syrian refugees have been informed that their residence permit was revoked or their application rejected since the Danish government determined conditions in the Damascus area had “improved.” 

However, in 2022, the Danish Refugee Appeals Board (Flygtningenævnet) has reversed the decision of the Danish Immigration Service (Udlændingestyrelsen) in 71 percent of Syrian cases addressed this year and allowed the refugees to stay, according to data supplied by the former agency to newspaper Dagbladet Information.

Between January and May, the Appeals Board, which issues binding decisions when applicants appeal a determination from the Immigration Service, overturned Immigration’s decision in 54 out of 76 cases and granted continued residence permits. 

That represents an increase in the proportion of turnovers compared to December 2021, when 43 percent of decisions were successfully appealed.

At the time, Ib Hounsgaard Trabjerg, chairman of the Appeals Board, described the rate of reversal as too high — “not least for the sake of those people who find their residence permits revoked or refused, creating uncertainty about their situation,” he said.

In a written comment to Information, Danish Immigration Service deputy director Henrik Thomassen said that the agency closely adheres to Appeal Board practice. It also stays updated on background information relating to European Court of Human Rights verdicts.

“To the extent that principal guidelines can be drawn from this, we adapt our practices accordingly,” Thomassen wrote.

A lag of around six months between Immigration Agency and Appeals Board decisions can mean additional information is available at the time decisions may be reversed, he noted.

In January this year, then-immigration minister Mattias Tesfaye was berated at the EU parliament by all but the most right wing MEPs for the Danish government’s insistence that it was safe enough in the Damascus area to repatriate some Syrian refugees to the region.

The policy has led to the withdrawal of asylum status from many Syrians in Denmark, condemning them to stays in the country’s infamous departure or expulsion centres.

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IMMIGRATION

Danish watchdog slams ‘deteriorating’ conditions at Kærshovedgård asylum facility

Denmark’s parliamentary ombudsman has concluded that conditions at the Kærshovedgård ‘departure centre’ for rejected asylum seekers have worsened and should be improved.

Published: 26 April 2024 17:14 CEST
Danish watchdog slams 'deteriorating' conditions at Kærshovedgård asylum facility

Conditions at the centre, which is used to accommodate people who have no residency rights in Denmark, are so poor that they prevent residents from “living life”, the ombudsman said in a statement released on Friday.

The criticisms are based in an inspection of the centre by the parliamentary watchdog in autumn 2023.

Conditions are described as being “a heavy burden and limit on basic living, and this to an even greater extent than before in relation to the general security situation at the departure 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.

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.

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

Kærshovedgård houses people who have not committed crimes but have no legal right to stay in Denmark, for example due to a rejected asylum claim; as well as foreign nationals with criminal records who have served their sentences but are awaiting deportation.

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

Current conditions at the facility were not found to breach any conventions, the ombudsman concluded.

However, the inspectors were “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”.

READ ALSO: Relocation of women from Danish expulsion centre ‘could take months’

Measures should be taken to improve the situation, the ombudsman said.

“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, is quoted in the statement.

“These are people who are required by the authorities to stay at Kærshovedgård, so the departure centre must be ensured to be a safe place to stay”, he said.

A recommendation is also made in the ombudsman report for new residents at Kærshovedgård to be screened for suicide risk.

Human rights organisations Danish Institute Against Torture and the Danish Institute for Human Rights were also present at the ombudsman inspection of Kærshovedgård. 17 residents with “tolerated stay” status were interviewed and the general conditions observed.

The parliamentary ombudsman (Folketingets Ombudsmand) is a lawyer appointed by parliament to review complaints against public authorities. The full statement on the Kærshovedgård inspection can be seen (in Danish) here.

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