Danish Refugee Council: Immigration authorities oppose its own report and a Danish documentary showcasing the suffering of Syrian refugees
Danish television channel DR broadcast a documentary titled “På flugt fra Danmark” (Fugitive from Denmark), which showed the suffering of a Syrian refugee boy who was forced to flee from Denmark to Germany, where he currently lives. The documentary also showed the story of a 12-year-old Syrian girl who received a letter from the Danish authorities stating that the young girl must voluntarily return to Syria or she may be placed in a deportation center.
The Danish Refugee Council criticized the Danish Immigration Service for withdrawing or not renewing the residency permits of Syrian refugees, as Syrian refugees are being deprived of their residency permits in Denmark, even though they face risks of abuse and persecution upon their return to Syria, according to the criticisms.
The documentary tells the story of Abdullah Al-Saloum, a Syrian boy who lived in North Jutland until a year ago. His mother's residency permit was not renewed, and despite his reluctance to leave his school and friends, he was forced to flee Denmark for Germany with his mother. The documentary portrays Abdullah's sadness at leaving the place he had lived for about six years, where his biggest dream was to play football with his friends and his Danish coach, Kasper, who became a friend and always supported him. He ended up fleeing to a refugee center in Germany, far from his friends and football coach, whom he misses dearly. Abdullah hadn't seen them for a year after fleeing Denmark with his mother because the family was denied residency permits. "I didn't feel like there was anything left to fight for. Kasper always taught me never to give up, and I did. It was really hard for me, but there was so much pressure on me. I couldn't take it anymore," Abdullah Al-Saloum described his ordeal in Danish, having fled to Germany despite... He could have obtained asylum in Denmark because Syrian men of conscription age are not returned to their country. It is primarily women, children, and men over the age of 42 who can have their residence permits revoked by the authorities. Abdullah's mother lost her residency.
”My mother needs me,” Abdullah says in the documentary. “When I was a little boy, she sacrificed her life for me. Now it’s my turn. She can’t manage without me.” His father wasn’t allowed to leave Syria, and when the family fled, he died there in 2016. Today, Abdullah wishes he hadn’t fled from Denmark to Germany. “I regret running away from Denmark. I lost everything—my friends, my school, everything I built over six years—it all fell apart when I ran away,” Abdullah Salloum says in the documentary.
Returning Syrians fear mistreatment
In May, the Danish Immigration Service published a report describing the fate that returning Syrians might face, stating: “The risk of persecution, problems with the Syrian authorities, the risk of arrest at a checkpoint, and the Syrian authorities continuing to arrest, detain, interrogate, torture, extort, and kill Syrian refugees.” However, the immigration authorities, who decide whether or not to revoke a residence permit in Denmark, do not adequately incorporate the report into their decisions, according to the Danish Refugee Council. Eva Singer, head of asylum at the Danish Refugee Council, told DR: “It is a big problem, in our opinion, that the Danish Immigration Service’s report on persecution and ill-treatment is not a significant reason in itself for granting a residence permit. It shows that the authorities are not taking the matter seriously enough.”.
EU report confirms risks
The report from the Danish Immigration Service is not the only one. A report issued by the European Union and published in September, which was reviewed by the Danish Immigration Service, concluded that returning Syrians are subjected to interrogation, arrest, rape, and torture, as stated in the Danish Immigration Service report. However, this information is not given much weight in addressing the situation, according to the Danish Refugee Council. “When these people flee Syria, they often have left illegally, and therefore they are seen as opponents and enemies upon their return. This alone can increase the risk of persecution when they are returned to their country by the Danish authorities,” says Eva Singer, who sees the Danish Immigration Service report and the European Union report as clear evidence that the residence permits of fleeing Syrians should not be revoked.
In the Refugee Council, which acts as an appeals body for the Danish Immigration Service, according to the Refugee Council, the Danish Immigration Service report forms the basis for the Council’s decisions in all cases. In some specific cases, the Council explicitly referred to the report, while in other cases, the report was not explicitly mentioned.
Since the report was published in May 2022, the Refugee Council has cancelled 49 out of 70 personal cases relating to the withdrawal or refusal to extend residence permits for Syrian nationals. There are still 49 Syrian refugees with a residence permit in Denmark. This means that the decision to withdraw or not renew residence permits has not been cancelled for a total of 21 cases in the Refugee Council, despite the Danish Immigration Service report and the EU report. This is equivalent to 30% cases. These are refugees who may also be at risk if they are returned to Syria.
Eva Singer commented on these figures, saying, “We cannot see how they differ from others. In this way, the Refugee Council’s practice is not entirely clear.” However, the Refugee Council disagrees with this interpretation, stating, “The fact that the Refugee Council grants refusals in some cases and permission in others does not indicate that the Council’s practices are unclear. In all cases, the Refugee Council conducts a specific and individualized risk assessment, comparing the conditions in the country of origin with the information provided in the specific case. On this basis, it is assessed whether the applicant is at risk of persecution or abuse. In cases involving people from Damascus and Rural Damascus in Syria, the general conditions in that part of Syria no longer, in themselves, justify a residence permit,” according to the Head of the General Secretariat of the Refugee Council, Stig Torp Henriksen.
The Danish Immigration Service gives almost the same answer
“The Immigration Service follows the practices of the Refugee Council, which are still based on the assumption that there is no risk of ill-treatment as a result of being in Damascus/Rural Damascus, but there may be individual reasons that require the application of a special precautionary principle when assessing these cases.
Authorities view residence permits as temporary.
Since the alleged paradigm shift, in which a majority in the Danish parliament decided that residence permits should only be temporary, it has become easier for Danish authorities to return refugees voluntarily to their homeland as soon as possible—that is, when Denmark deems areas in Syria such as Damascus and its surroundings safe. However, Denmark does not forcibly deport Syrian refugees.
“It is not safe for these people to return. This is described in both Danish and international reports. We want to change this practice so that the risks to which people returning to Syria are recognized lead to continued asylum and protection in Denmark,” says Eva Singer, chair of the Asylum Committee.
At the Refugee Council, the risk of being a Syrian refugee is not sufficient grounds for granting a residence permit in Denmark. When dealing with cases involving Syrian nationals, it is included as one of several factors in the case assessment.
