AYS News Digest 26/11/21: Denmark forcibly detains old, sick Syrians in exit detention camps
Only 7 people actually returned, as the Danish government refuses to collaborate with the Assad regime // Greece violates rights of human rights activists and protection seekers // More than 400 people rescued at sea // Germany to introduce new migration policy
Today, 60-year-old Dalal and 67-year-old Suhil from Syria had to show up to be forcibly detained at the Danish exit center Sjælsmark.
In the post below, Mahmoud, the son of the elderly couple, tells about his pain caused by this situation:
“I have tried to write this post several times, but was never able to finish it. I have always been good at expressing my feelings in writing, but these last few days I have had a hard time setting my feelings and thoughts into words. Therefore, my sentences might be somewhat messy. It’s not just my sentences that are messed up at the moment. The same goes for my thoughts, feelings and not the least my whole life!
In a few hours I have to say goodbye to my parents, who are going to the Sjælsmark exit center, after they have been refused an extension of their residence permits. My parents are going to an exit center indefinitely, as Denmark can not force Syrians to go back to Syria at the moment, because the government refuses to cooperate formally with the dictator Assad. Yet, Denmark demands that people must return to Assad’s Syria, and when Syrians refuse to go back to a dictator, they are ordered to stay in an exit center far away from their children and grandchildren.
My parents suffer from various diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes and a slipped disc. My siblings and I are assisting them daily at home with everything from medication, cooking and cleaning — now my parents have to be forcibly separated from us to instead be interned under inhumane conditions for years — as they can not return to Syria as long as the same dictator from whom they have fled, and with whom Denmark refuses to cooperate, is in power.
The Danish authorities, The Refugee Board, the Danish Repatriation Service (Hjemrejsestyrelsen) and the Danish Immigration Service disregard the recommendations of the United Nations, which indicates that Syria is not a safe country that anyone can return to at the moment.
The above facts can be called the “humanitarian” part of the case of my parents, but all of that has been disregarded by the Refugee Board. Denmark, which has always been known for humanity and humanism, is showing its inhuman side to refugees and Danes alike.
In regard to the legal part of the case, the refusal given to my father is absolutely insane. He had been employed in the military in Syria for 30 years and retired in 2006. We fled Syria as a family at the start of the civil war in 2012 — both because at that time my older brothers were of military age and as my father, despite his retirement after 30 years of faithful service, would be drafted into the army. Needless to say, he will face a big dilemma when he returns home to the regime and has to explain why he with a military background fled the country when civil war broke out. The Refugee Board recognizes and makes the assessment that Syrians who have been public servants will be at risk if they return. Still, the Refugee Board chooses to disregard its own assessment and refuses to extend my parents’ residence permit. And this is where one begins to doubt the judgement and decisions of the Refugee Board.
So what is the point of deporting people and in particular elderly, sick people to an exit center where they will have to live for years, and in doing so split up whole families? What is the point of me having to study and to contribute to the Danish society when my parents have to be forcibly separated from me and my siblings !! ??”
When Mahmoud was about to drive his parents to the exit centre today, his mother Dalal and his sister fainted with chest pains and convulsions and had instead to be taken to hospital by ambulance. Calling the exit centre from the hospital after the incident to inform them about what had happened, he was told that hospitalisation is not a valid reason not to show up, and that it would be expected that his parents will turn themselves in at the centre on Zealand at the other end of the country later in the day.
Mahmoud later had to decide that he would not move his mother and parents to the exit centre. Only tomorrow will tell what is going to happen then.
The residence permits of 186 Syrians have been revoked since the summer of 2020, The Local writes, referring to Jyllands-Posten. However, the Refugee Appeals Board (Flygtningenævnet) has overturned 80 of these decisions. The outlet recalls that 11 out of 12 expert sources have publicly distanced themselves from the conclusions of a report on the security situation in Syria. So far, only seven Syrians have actually returned to Damascus.
Libya
In early October, more than 5,000 people were detained in Tripoli. Of these, 93 were evacuated to Rome on Thursday under the humanitarian corridors scheme. This was UNHCR’s first evacuation from Libya in one year, according to Al Jazeera.
Sea
The maritime authorities of several European countries have refused to rescue more than 400 people in distress, The Civil Fleet writes. MRCCs in Italy and Malta did not feel responsible and did not react to calls by Alarm Phone. The so-called Libyan Coast Guard would not be able to rescue such a large number of people. Before Alarm Phone lost contact with the group, Tunisia had sent four assets, altough the boat in distress was in Maltese waters. Later it was discovered that the Tunisian authorities had rescued the group; now a pullback is feared. Meanwhile, Sea-Watch 4 with more than 480 people on board was able to find a safe harbour for their guests.
Salvamento Maritimo has rescued 213 people off the Canary Islands, writes 20 Minutos.
Greece
Human Rights activists of several organizations criticize the halt on cash assistance and food support for asylum seekers and refugees. “For nearly two months, up to 60 per cent of current residents of the Greek refugee camps on the mainland have not had access to sufficient food,” the Greek Refugee Council writes. Some estimated 34,000 people are affected by the two-month stoppage of cash assistance.
On Saturday, new isolated reception centres are opening on Leros and Kos, completely funded by the EU and Greece.
The Greek government has rejected Refugee Support Agean’s NGO registry for “supporting persons under deportation”, wrongly arguing it was against Greek law, Manos Moschopoulos writes on Twitter. RSA announced it would challenge the decision.
Members of the Association for Juridical Studies on Immigration (ASGI) were taken into custody by Greek police, including Frontex staff, during a “technical-legal” visit at the Greek-Macedonian border near Idomeni. They were brought to the border crossing point and forced to return on foot to Macedonian territorry in early November.
Further Reading:
Belarus
Some 570 people were returned from Minsk to Erbil, Iraq, on Friday in two flights, InfoMigrants reports.
The European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) with 100 more organizations demands that the EU “restore rights and values at Europe’s borders”. The full statement can be found on their website.
Further reading:
What this shows is that this situation is neither a “migration crisis” nor “hybrid warfare”. Such framings undermine a focus on migration and asylum policy making, the rule of law and the protection of human rights, which would be needed for not only humane but also sustainable solutions.
Baranowska, G., Başdaş, B and Welfens, N. (2021). The Dangerous Politics of Framing: The Situation at the Polish-Belarusian Border. Available at: https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/research-subject-groups/centre-criminology/centreborder-criminologies/blog/2021/11/dangerous [27/11/2021]
BiH
The so-called Helicopter place in Velika Kladusa was evacuated on Friday, according to No Name Kitchen. Police burned down the tents and the belongings of the people residing at the spot. People were transferred to surrounding camps, but nine stayed there.
Germany
The new German government, a centre-left coalition of Social Democrats (SPD), Greens (Grüne) and Liberals (FDP), wants to ease access to citizenship and family reunification, InfoMigrants explains. In their coalition plan, the three parties speak about a “modern immigration country”, which wants to reduce irregular migration and enable more regular ways. Additionally, they do not want to build new Anchor-centers for new arrivals, which have been criticised for isolating protection seekers.
At the same time, the coalition partners want to speed up asylum procedures and start a “repatration offensive” for people without the right to stay in the country, preferring voluntary return programmes. Citizenship should be granted to anyone living in the country for five years, and in some cases after three years. Additionally, the new government wants to find new ways for them to keep their prior nationality. People who have been living in the country for five years on 1st January 2022 and have not committed any crimes can ask for a probationary one-year residence permit, if they commit to respect free democratic values.
France
Following the shipwreck with 27 drowned people off Dunkirk, five suspected smugglers have been arrested, InfoMigrants writes. One was caught carrying dinghies bought in Germany, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin told RTL radio.
Further reading:
- ‘He didn’t come back’: the grim camps from where refugees set off for UK (The Guardian)
- ‘I come, or I die’: fatalistic refugees say Channel crossing their only option (The Guardian)
- Channel refugee tragedy tests fragile French-UK ties, fuels fears (Al Jazeera)
- Channel disaster: Kurdish woman is first victim identified (BBC)
- Pregnant woman and three children among 27 drowned in Channel (The Guardian)
- The vigil in London to honour the lives lost in the Channel (Huckmag)
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