Lawyers preparing to bring the Danish government to Damascus said that Denmark’s attempt to return hundreds of Syrians to Damascus after it considered the city safe would “set a dangerous precedent” for other countries to take the same action. European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) On this issue.
Danish authorities began to reject Syrian refugees’ visa renewal applications Temporary residence status Last summer, the move proved reasonable, because a report found that the security situation in certain areas of the country had “significantly improved”.It is believed that the approximately 1,200 Damascus currently living in Denmark pretentious By policy.
Guernica 37 is a London-based chamber of commerce that provides unpaid and affordable assistance in transnational judicial and human rights cases. It is working with Danish asylum lawyers and affected families to challenge government policies According to the principles of the Geneva Convention, “Not repatriated“The United Nations and other countries do not think Damascus is safe.
“The situation is Denmark Deeply concerned. Although the risk of violence directly related to the conflict may have been reduced in some areas of Syria, the risk of political violence is still as great as ever, and refugees returning from Europe are becoming targets of the regime’s security forces,” said Guernica 37’s strategic statement. road.
“If the Danish government succeeds in forcibly returning refugees to Syria, it will set a dangerous precedent and several other European countries may follow suit.”
There are 5.8 million people in Denmark, of which about 500,000 were born abroad and 35,000 are Syrians. However, in recent years, the rise of the far-right Danish People’s Party has affected the Scandinavian country’s reputation for tolerance and openness.
Observers say that the new position on Syrian refugees — which also applies to refugees from other countries, albeit in a small number — is the government’s center-left coalition trying to win votes.
Because Denmark has no diplomatic relations with the Bashar al-Assad regime, Syrian refugees whose residency renewal is denied face the prospect of being held in detention centers indefinitely.
A cruel quirk is that, as the Danish authorities recognize that Syrian men are at risk of being drafted into the army or being punished for evading conscription, most of the affected people appear to be women and the elderly, many of whom face separation from their families.
Ghalia, 27, was reunited with her parents and brothers when she arrived in Denmark in 2015, but her residence permit was revoked in March. She is the only family member affected.
She said that although Gallia appealed the decision, the uncertainty and worries of separation prevented her from sleeping.
“I am afraid of entering the immigration center, but I can’t return to Syria… as if they believe we have a choice, but if I go back, I will be arrested. You can’t do anything at the immigration center, you can’t work, you can’t Study. It’s like a prison. I’ll just waste my life there.”
Carl Buckley, the barrister who led the Guernica 37 effort, said that if Syrians exhaust the Danish appeal process, submitting the case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is one of several potential ways to be affected.
He said: “ECHR is a slow-moving system, but we will file an application to ask the court to consider interim measures, which will involve ordering Denmark to cease the revocation of residency until a substantive complaint is considered and determined.
“In theory, this may happen soon. Although it only applies to one person’s case, we hope that Denmark will consider it carefully, otherwise they will eventually receive thousands of similar applications.”
Guernica 37 and a consortium of 150 Danish law firms engaged in asylum cases hope that there is no need to take the Danish government to court.
25-year-old Faeza is a nurse working in the northern town of Hillerød. She was treating Covid patients when the Danish Immigration Service invited her for an interview in August last year. “I was interviewed for eight hours. I was asked over and over again, why did I not return to Syria? I said it was because it was not safe.”
Her permit was revoked in January of this year, and she spent many stressful months to appeal the decision: like Ghalia, Faeza was the only person in her family whose permit was revoked. Although the ruling was overturned in July, she was still afraid of being challenged again and the prospect of returning to Syria alone. “I am happy with this decision,” she said, “but I am worried now [in case it happens again]. As Syrian refugees, we will face unfair decisions. “
Jens Rye-Andersen, an immigration lawyer in Aalborg, said that due to widespread criticism from the United Nations, human rights organizations and the Danish public, he believes that the rate of revocation of residence permits has slowed down.
“I think the government is listening to our opinions, and I hope they will temporarily abandon the plan,” he said.
“In the past two years, the asylum system has undergone a lot of changes. Obviously it is not working very well. The experts who wrote the government’s preliminary report showing that the security situation in Syria has improved said that their work was misquoted. So I think The government has no choice but to reconsider.”
In 2018, hundreds of Somalis in Denmark had their licenses revoked under a similar plan. Some people have won calls to stay, but according to the Danish Refugee Council, many have left Denmark and disappeared, possibly living without status in another country.
Gallia’s appellate court appointment was delayed because her lawyer was ill, and for her, the waiting was painful.
“When I first arrived in Denmark, I went back to that point immediately and felt helpless all the time,” she said.
“I can’t control my life. I don’t think I have done anything worthy of this.”
