Denmark faced the ire of European Union parliamentarians on Wednesday for its policy of sending some Syrian refugees back to the Damascus area and revoking their asylum status. In mid-2020, Denmark became the first European Union country to re-examine the cases of about 500 Syrians from Damascus, which is under the control of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, claiming “the current situation in Damascus is no longer such as to justify a residence permit or the extension of a residence permit.”
Several members of the EU’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs stated that they believed Denmark was displaying a lack of solidarity with other EU countries with the policy because refugees in Denmark were more likely to apply for asylum elsewhere in the EU than to return to Syria. Tesfaye said he hoped the Danish project would inspire other countries to take a similar step, but some members of the European Parliament questioned how Denmark would be able to ensure asylum seekers’ rights are protected in locations outside of the EU.
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