Syrians Are Stripped of Refugee Protection in Denmark: 'Now You Are Telling Us to Go?'
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Ms. Bertawi and her family are among dozens of Syrian refugees stripped of their residency visas by Denmark and told to return to their war-torn country because the Danish government now deems Damascus—where they had previously been living—safe. Human-rights groups contest the claim that any part of Syria is safe for returnees. But since Denmark cut off formal diplomatic relations with Syria near the start of the civil war a decade ago, it is unable to deport Syrians. Instead it is placing those who no longer have legal status in removal camps, a policy that aid groups say is aimed at pressuring Syrians to voluntarily return to Syria.
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The Danish decision reflects broader questions over the fate of millions of Syrians who fled the decadelong civil war that devastated their country. More than 6.5 million people sought refuge outside Syria, largely in neighboring Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan. While the refugees were welcomed early on, their huge numbers have strained the host countries and led to growing pressure on the Syrians to return home. More than one million migrants arrived in Europe in 2015, many of them Syrian refugees who initially were received warmly and expected to settle permanently. But the wave of refugees and migrants eventually led to a hardening of immigration policies across the region. Denmark, which has pursued some of the toughest anti-immigration policies in the region in recent years, took a cautious view of the Syrian refugees from the start. While Germany took hundreds of thousands of Syrians, Denmark took in around 13,000 refugees in 2015. As of early 2020, there were slightly more than 32,000 Syrian refugees in Denmark. Danish authorities say they never intended for the Syrians to settle permanently.
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In principle, refugee protection lasts only as long as the threat or danger that drove the person to flee still exists, and host governments make their own assessment as to when the circumstances have changed and protection should be removed, said Eva Singer, the director of asylum at the Danish Refugee Council... The Danish immigration ministry began reviewing the temporary residency visas of Syrians in 2019 after a fact-finding mission to Damascus examined the security situation. Based partly on that report, the government decided that the city of Damascus was safe for refugees to return to. Then earlier this year, it expanded that to include the broader Damascus province.
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In 2020, 94 Syrians lost their residency but 30 of them successfully appealed, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Of the 64 who have been ordered to leave Denmark, 50 now live in removal centers, where they can’t work, study or prepare their own meals. Those numbers don’t include decisions issued in 2021, especially after the Danish immigration ministry expanded the area considered safe to the entire Damascus province, which includes many suburbs that have been destroyed after years of government bombardment.
Syrians across the continent worry that Denmark could become an example for other countries that want to reduce the number of refugees. Last month, the Austrian interior minister told a local news magazine that his government was following closely the Danish policy and could eventually consider deporting Syrians. Earlier this year Germany, which now has 800,000 Syrian refugees, ended its ban on deporting criminals and dangerous people to Syria, though like Denmark it isn’t expected to forcibly expel them.
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https://www.wsj.com/articles/syrians-are-stripped-of-refugee-protection-in-denmark-now-you-are-telling-us-to-go-11618660800 (subscription)
