Published : 10-05-2021
Danish authorities have given orders to a number of refugees from Syria to return to Damascus, to a home that no longer stands, in a neighbourhood destroyed by the war and often shut off to former residents.
“I do not know what is left to go back to. How can I protect my children there?” a refugee told Mshleem, one of more than 100 Syrians living in Denmark who have effectively lost their refugee status, told the Guardian in an article published on Sunday.
Denmark has become the first European nation not to renew residency permits for the refugees, claiming some areas of Syria are now safe for families to return to. The decision stunned and terrified Syrians in Denmark, who have many reasons to fear going home.
The Guardian said that the war is still raging in parts of Syria, which authorities in Copenhagen have tacitly recognised by giving political asylum to all men whose age would make them vulnerable to forced conscription.
The feared Syrian police apparatus, which helped spur the 2011 uprising against Assad, and tortured and murdered throughout the war, is still thriving. The economy is in free fall, making it hard for returnees, who are generally considered politically suspect, to find work or feed their family.
For the many Syrians who fled from opposition strongholds around the capital, there is another pressing reason not to return. The war and actions by the Syrian state have effectively rendered them homeless – through demolition and redevelopment plans for Damascus neighbourhoods where they once lived.
Since Copenhagen does not have diplomatic relations with Damascus it cannot directly deport people to Syria. At least some of the rejected applicants have been placed in a departure centre, which campaigners said amounted to a prison where residents could not work, study or get proper healthcare.
Danish authorities have given orders to a number of refugees from Syria to return to Damascus, to a home that no longer stands, in a neighbourhood destroyed by the war and often shut off to former residents.
“I do not know what is left to go back to. How can I protect my children there?” a refugee told Mshleem, one of more than 100 Syrians living in Denmark who have effectively lost their refugee status, told the Guardian in an article published on Sunday.
Denmark has become the first European nation not to renew residency permits for the refugees, claiming some areas of Syria are now safe for families to return to. The decision stunned and terrified Syrians in Denmark, who have many reasons to fear going home.
The Guardian said that the war is still raging in parts of Syria, which authorities in Copenhagen have tacitly recognised by giving political asylum to all men whose age would make them vulnerable to forced conscription.
The feared Syrian police apparatus, which helped spur the 2011 uprising against Assad, and tortured and murdered throughout the war, is still thriving. The economy is in free fall, making it hard for returnees, who are generally considered politically suspect, to find work or feed their family.
For the many Syrians who fled from opposition strongholds around the capital, there is another pressing reason not to return. The war and actions by the Syrian state have effectively rendered them homeless – through demolition and redevelopment plans for Damascus neighbourhoods where they once lived.
Since Copenhagen does not have diplomatic relations with Damascus it cannot directly deport people to Syria. At least some of the rejected applicants have been placed in a departure centre, which campaigners said amounted to a prison where residents could not work, study or get proper healthcare.
