With dozens of limbo, Denmark lobbied to overturn refugee policy Refugee News

“I felt like I was exiled from the world,” Asmaa al-Natour told Al Jazeera via WhatsApp from Sjaelsmark, Denmark, north of Copenhagen, sending messages called “return centers”.

The 50-year-old Syrian refugee and her husband, 54-year-old Omar, were put on the spot on Oct. 26, after their residence permits were revoked last November for nearly a year.

They had to leave the house they had rented for seven years in the central city of Ringsted and are now separated from their two sons: Hani, 25, and Waseem, 21.

They are two of 90 Syrian refugees who have been told to return to Syria since Denmark began declaring safe parts of the war-torn country before 2019, according to the Danish Refugee Council (DRC).

Al-Natour is disappointed with his situation.

“Denmark destroyed my life and that of my husband,” she said. “Since we entered the deportation camp, we feel alive.”

The dozens of refugees they have pointed out are not forced to return, but if they refuse, they will have to stay in facilities like Sjaelsmark run by the Danish Prison and Probation Service, unable to work, study or prepare. meals.

Now, human rights groups are stepping up pressure on Denmark to suspend its decision and reinstate protections for refugees if many of them return for fear of death.

The Syrian capital, Damascus, and its rural countryside have been described as safe because “they do not experience any active hostility,” said Human Rights Watch researcher Nadia Hardman.

“It’s our point of view, yes, but the Syrian authorities’ goal is to be non-discriminatory, ”said Hardman, who recently visited Denmark to present his findings on the potential risks of Syrians returning.

Hardman met with officials from the Danish Foreign Ministry and Immigration Services, including Immigration Minister Matt Tesfaye.

At the time of publication, Tesfaye’s office did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.

Hardman has documented 21 arrests and arbitrary arrests, 13 cases of torture, three kidnappings, five extrajudicial killings, 17 enforced disappearances and an alleged case of sexual violence against Syrians who have recently returned from various countries.

He is among those who would fear death if Al-Natour returned.

“I am afraid for my life and the life of my husband if we return to Syria because we will be arrested and killed,” she said.

Al-Natour was active in the early days of the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“Returning to Syria is like the death penalty for us,” he added.

Other Syrian refugees in Denmark – even those who are able to stay – have been chosen to flee to the Scandinavian country.

“Syrian refugees in Denmark [have] they have been deceived, ”a refugee living in Copenhagen, who wanted to remain anonymous, told Al Jazeera.

“When we made the decision to come to Denmark, Denmark had the most amazing government I’ve ever seen … they were doing really well with the refugees.”

The man, who arrived in Denmark in 2014, has been granted political asylum and works as a software engineer in the capital. He will soon receive permanent residency.

But he deplored the Danish government’s shift to the right in recent years in migration policies, and looked favorably on the situation of Syrians like al-Natours and the conditions of prison-run return centers.

Al-Natour, describing the conditions of the facility, said: “It is an old center that is not suitable for human living. [and] not suitable for animals. ‘

The shared bathrooms are “old and dirty” and the rooms are barely furnished, but they have “dirty beds”.

Her mental health is also in jeopardy because she is now separated from her children. They renewed their permits because they face military service in Syria.

DRC Asylum Director Eda Singer frequently visits the centers to provide legal advice to Syrian refugees whose permits have been revoked.

“[It’s] it’s not a place where you have to spend too much time, ”he told Al Jazeera.

But even a recent case before the European Court of Human Rights, Singer explained, when the court ruled that Russia had violated the arrest and exile of a group of Syrian refugees to Syria, has not prompted Danish authorities to abandon their policies. .

Unlike Russia, Denmark does not forcibly return Syrians home, Singer added, adding that the court will be urgent in cases of refugees from the Scandinavian country.

Rights groups, however, say indirect pressure on the return of Syrian refugees – which violates UNHCR policy – could violate international law.

“There is an argument for this indirect pressure [of] living in return centers can be a violation of the inability to return, ”Hardman said, explaining that non-return is one of the basic principles of international law.

This measure prohibits a country from returning refugees to a place where there is a credible threat to their lives.

Meanwhile, al-Natour and her husband live in limbo, but they are not without help.

At their previous home in Ringsted, activists and friends marched in support of themselves and others to call attention to their plight.

“Ringsted has become known around the world as the first city to lose a Syrian family to Denmark due to a miserable and unworthy lifestyle at an exit center,” the Facebook page created for the protests said. “But we will also be remembered for being a city that moves away from Denmark’s inhumane foreign policy and shows our compassion.”

Al-Natour hopes to have a solution in his case; he appealed the authorities’ decision in May this year.

The only place he wants to return to is the city that gave him shelter.

“My desire is to get back to my normal life, to continue my studies and my life, while living with the neighbors … I loved the city, Ringsted,” he said.