Michael de Laine

By Michael de Laine, The Copenhagen Voice, 29 May 2009

Members of the Nordic Council Left-wing Socialist and Green Group (VSG) have questioned the Danish decision to send 282 Iraqi asylum-seekers back to areas deemed dangerous by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The VSG would like to know what plans Denmark has to work with its neighbours to prevent the export of refugees from one Nordic country to another, says Mads Nikolajsen, VSG Group Secretary.

In a letter to the Danish government, VSG says it is highly critical of the fact that the integration minister has ignored UN recommendations and decided to send 282 asylum-seekers home to dangerous parts of Iraq.

“All countries must respect international conventions and refugee rights, and they all have a responsibility to interpret refugee law on the basis of current facts about actual conditions in the areas to which refugees are deported,” says VSG chairperson Rolf Reikvam. “Why has the Danish Immigration Service ignored information from the UN about the situation in Iraq?”

VSG is interested in Denmark’s plans to co-ordinate refugee practises with the other Nordic countries because what happens in one Nordic country invariably has an impact on the others.

If one Nordic country tightens asylum rules, the flow of refugees to the other countries increases, e.g. there was a sharp rise in the number of asylum seekers arriving in Finland and Norway after Sweden changed its repatriation policy, VSG points out in its letter.

“We would like to know what plans the Danish government has to work with the rest of the Nordic countries to prevent the export of refugees,” Reikvam adds. “We need a Nordic agenda for migration and refugee issues, among other things so that we can all see what policies are in place in the other Nordic countries.”

Under the Helsinki Agreement, the Nordic countries must strive to develop co-operation on legislation, culture, social affairs, transport and the economy. VSG believes that migration and refugee issues cover all of these topics.

The Iraqis concerned have sought sanctuary and are now living in churches in Denmark. Many of them have lived in the country for years and have children born and raised there.

In an article in the Danish newspaper Politiken on 27 May 2009, the Danish Refugee Council said that the Immigration Service has not visited the five most dangerous provinces in Iraq since 2004, probably because it would be dangerous for Danish officials to operate there. Of the 282 Iraqi refugees facing deportation, 128 come from these five provinces.

Red Barnet - the Danish branch of the international Save the Children organisation - says sending nine Iraqi families with a total of 21 children back to Iraq under the new repatriation agreement between the two governments, is a breach of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

“The interests of the children must be the first priority in decisions that affect the child,” says Red Barnet in a note on the Danish government’s plan to send failed Iraqi asylum-seeker families back to Iraq. “We do not believe that any authority has examined the interests of these children in connection with a decision to forcibly deport the asylum-seekers. And we are convinced that unprejudiced people with knowledge of and expertise in children’s affairs who conduct such an examination would conclude that sending them to Iraq after so many years is not giving priority to the interest of these children. The Iraqi children’s childhood by itself should give the families the right to remain in Denmark, where it is Denmark’s obligation to ensure that these children have a life worth living.”

According to the daily newspaper Kristeligt Dagblad, Iraq’s Minister for Refugees and Immigrants, Abdul Samad Sultan, is so dissatisfied with the repatriation agreements that the Iraqi government has signed with the Danish and Swedish governments that he wants them rescinded.

The new situation has arisen after bad experiences with refugees forcibly repatriated from Sweden, the newspaper reports, citing the local newspaper Al Zaman.

The refugees said they were harshly treated in the period up to their repatriation, while their living conditions since their arrival in Iraq have been wretched. Many fear the Iraqi authorities. One family with four children has already fled Iraq for Turkey.

However, there is nothing to indicate the Iraqi government will actually annul the repatriation agreements.

Click here to read the Copenhagen Voice story, ‘Aid to Iraq held back to ensure agreement for returning asylum-seekers – report’.

Click here to read the VSG statement.

Click here the read the Politiken article, ‘Embedsmænd turde ikke rejse til Centralirak’.

Click here to read the Save the Children report ‘Iraq – A Child Rights: Situation Analysis’.

Click here to read the Red Barnet note, ‘Om regeringens plan om at sende afviste irakiske familier til Irak’.

Click here to read the Kristeligt Dagblad article, ‘Minister kræver dansk flygtningeaftale ophævet’.