FactualThe Scandinavian country believes that the situation is now sufficiently secure in Damascus and its region to allow the return of refugees benefiting from temporary protection.
On the road to exile, his companions in misfortune told him about this small country, in northern Europe, which “Defended the rights of women”. Single mother, Rasha Kairout fled Syria in April 2015. A neighbor had known that the police were looking for her. She left with her two children aged 7 and 9. On her mobile phone, she shows the photos of the inflatable boat in which they crossed the Mediterranean. “No mother takes such a risk if not to flee an even greater danger”, she says, hair hidden under a cap, her eyes lined with kohl.
A month later, the family set foot in Denmark. A teacher in Damascus, Rasha learned Danish, was hired as a cleaning lady in a large hotel in Copenhagen. Then, when the Covid-19 pandemic arrived, she became a home help and enrolled in a caregiver training. Her daughter and son are going to college. “I did everything that was expected of me, she breathes. I even forgot that I was a refugee. “ On February 20, a letter from the immigration services, informing her that her residence permit would not be renewed, reminded her that she was only a guest in Denmark.
According to the immigration services in Copenhagen, 505 Syrian refugees, out of just over 8,000 who arrived in 2015, all from the Damascus region and beneficiaries of temporary protection, could have their residence permit revoked this year. The Danish authorities believe that the situation in Damascus and its region has stabilized enough for them to return: “The general conditions in the areas in question are no longer so extreme to justify a residence permit on their own”, said the chairman of the appeals committee, Henrik Bloch Andersen, on April 20.
“We have nothing more there”
Joud and Tulip Bashour were summoned in February, along with their parents, to the Sandholm asylum seekers center, north of Copenhagen, for an individual interview. Baby face, Joud, 18, was questioned for two hours. “I was asked why I refused to do my military service in Syria. I replied that I did not want to kill another human being and even less for a murderer like Bashar Al-Assad. ” The Danish authorities ruled that this was not enough to grant him asylum, because the young man has no brother: in theory, only sons escape military service in Syria. Except that there is no guarantee and that Joud’s mother had another boy, who lives in Lebanon.
You have 71.45% of this article to read. The rest is for subscribers only.