UNHCR criticizes Denmark policy towards Syrian refugees
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – The Danish authorities have come under new criticism for denying Syrian refugees residence permits to consider the situation “safe” in Damascus, on a path that the United Nations said lacks justification.
“The UNHCR does not consider the recent security improvements in parts of Syria to be sufficiently substantial, stable or permanent, to justify ending the international protection of any group of refugees,” it said in a statement issued in New York.
“We continue to call for the protection of Syrian refugees and demands that they not be forcibly returned to any place in Syria, regardless of who controls the area in question,” it added.
The UNHCR expressed “concern” about the Copenhagen decision, which dates back to last summer, despite the current suspension of deportations in the absence of links between the Danish government and the Syrian regime.
Since the end of June 2020, Copenhagen has embarked on a large-scale process of reviewing each of the 461 Syrian files from the Syrian capital, on the grounds that “the current situation in Damascus no longer justifies (granting) or extending a residence permit.”
This is the first decision of its kind for a country in the European Union.
Last week, the televised appeal of a girl threatened with deportation a few months before the baccalaureate exams overshadowed the relative indifference that had so far surrounded the case in the tiny Scandinavian country.
Denmark follows a strict reception policy aimed at achieving “zero asylum seekers”, which encourages the voluntary return of Syrians, and has only issued temporary residence permits since 2015.
Legally, these permits are granted without time limits in the event of “a very dangerous situation in the home country characterized by arbitrary violence and attacks on civilians,” but they can be revoked de facto when the situation is not judged in that way.