Denmark offers Syrian refugees money to return home or be put in a deportation centre

naveen al-raha is from damascus back in october when her residency permit in denmark was rejected she also walked along the promenade copenhagen to say goodbye to the little mermaid two women trapped between two worlds if her appeal fails she will either have to return to damascus voluntarily or be placed in a deportation center our filming is interrupted by a video call from our 10 year old son who's still in damascus naveen arrived here in 2014 with her father because of her anti-assad activism it was agreed she would leave her husband and two children to go to denmark the idea she'd travel first then apply for family reunification it didn't work out that way eventually her husband remarried denmark is the first country in the eu to revoke residency permits which were never permanent for people like naveen deeming damascus and its environs safe to return to and indeed the bombs are not falling anymore on neighborhoods like yarmouk where naveen is from naveen lives with her father and mother outside copenhagen and supported accommodation with benefits they've invited 66 year old rahab over for coffee rahab is in the same position as naveen residency revoked awaiting appeal and possible deportation the difference she has no family or connections left in damascus [Laughter] everyone in this living room is now in europe including rahab on the right in white this is what's left of rahab's home in damascus filmed a few years ago it is there are about a hundred syrians in the same position as naveen and rahab in denmark up for return with residency rejected if they refuse to go back they could be put in a deportation center if they go back voluntarily they could receive a 30 000 euro incentive per adult to do so about 130 syrians have taken up this option an estimated 30 000 have arrived in denmark since the war started in syria the danish government's perspective is i guess that why should the danish state have to look after you forever yeah it's like that but why should the daily state have to look after you forever why are they saying we are welcome in the first place yeah if they don't if they can't help us or they can't taking care of people why they accept that people well their argument was that it wasn't it was probably it was never a permanent arrangement that it was all was just a temporary arrangement and now that's coming to an end for some people so that's the end of the deal but we we try to be a part of this country we did what they want we work we're working we're studying we we're trying to be we're trying to to get a home here we're traveling to one of the deportation centers where some syrians are awaiting removal on route a stopover at hamlet's castle cronenberg the minority social democrat government has co-opted the hard-line immigration policies of the right-wing populist danish people's party the prime minister here talks zero tolerance when it comes to new asylum seekers people who represent to some voters an assault on the welfare system here something rotten in denmark there's something right in here we have people living for 20 30 years they do not speak danish they do not give anything back and they come and they claim welfare from day one and that is wrong on the other hand denmark has taken fewer refugees than some neighbors sweden for example next door has taken over three times the number of syrians although it's a bigger country for other voters this is the politics of safety lying in fear normally when you see you have problems you have to find an enemy and then you find these people i think so yes so you think these people are being scapegoated yes right finally the deportation center near the castle the danish government has a big problem they can't actually send anyone back who doesn't want to go because the government doesn't do dialogue with assad's regime so people could get stuck in places like this for years like this kardashian we met outside how long do you expect to have to spend here the castle of the danish parliament sets the stage for nordic noir and the government's immigration hardline how close do you think we are to somebody actually being physically and forcibly removed yes to syria anytime soon it is unlikely that will happen because we don't cooperate with assad and as long as we don't do that we can't force anyone to go back to syria yeah so they're going to be stuck someplace else for years until the syrian conflict they will have to live in uh in a center until they they either the the situation changes in syria or they chose to go back voluntarily as uh some of the countrymen already has done this is where policy and people collide for naveen the bombs have stopped but the regime endures and when you ask her about returning she recalls being on a bus at a checkpoint in damascus seven years ago a soldier overheard a woman with children complaining about the weight he trying pushing this mini bus and say some bad words for all of us and saying i will kill all of you and in the end she gave up she preferred that she get killed or they arrested her not to make all of us in this situation can you imagine this moment you it's not your country it's not a country to live why what she said just a word she'd she don't deserve that i i i was watching her i don't know what happened for her the questions then when does a refugee stop being one when does home stop being that and when will naveen stop having nightmares where she is the woman on the bus

Channel: Channel 4 News

Views: 1,170,276

Keywords: channel 4 news, news, uk news, denmark news, denmark, refugees, refugee crisis, denmark tells refugees to go home, syria, damascus, migrant crisis, United nations, UN, Scandinavian, scandinavia, europe, europe news, syrian civil war, syrian conflict, displaced, humanitarian news

Id: XLlwXIZrWPQ

Length: 8min 21sec (501 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 17 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/DependentCarpet]

I remember not too long ago, there was a post about this topic and one of the Danish colleagues was adding his view in. Some attacked him for "defending" his party's position, which wasn't true. He wanted to explain the views that built the idea behind it.

To be honest, I read myself into the topic a bit and to be honest: shouldn't we discuss it instead of a priori flagging it as racist. What are the reasons for them doing it?

[u/MrWayne136]

I think we should give the accepted refugees who found a job the possibility to stay here even if the conflict in their home lands are over, those who didn't find a job and are still dependent on the government have to go back once it's safe to do so.

[u/MadBaronFerdinand]

A socialist who bends to the whims of demagogues is a coward

[u/[deleted]]

I am glad people in this subreddit are actually speaking about the quasi-fascist policies of the Danish Social Democrats.

[u/iron_and_carbon]

So, might you then call them some sort of social nationalist, national social, we have to have a word for this right?

[u/[deleted]]

[removed]