11 Oct 2021; MEMO: Syrian refugee families in Denmark have reportedly been fleeing to the Netherlands in an effort to escape the possibility of being deported back to Syria, as Copenhagen continues to deem Syria as safe enough under the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
In March this year, the Danish government declared that the Syrian capital, Damascus, and the territories under the control of the Assad regime are "safe", enabling it to revoke the resident permits of hundreds of Syrian refugees in Denmark.
This decision means that Syrian asylum seekers in the country could be deported if their permits are not renewed upon expiration. Rather than being directly deported, though, those Syrians are to be held at deportation centres for an unknown amount of time due to the fact that Copenhagen still does not have open ties with Damascus.
The classifying of Syria as safe has resulted in the stripping of residency permits from 94 Syrian refugees within a single week back in April, with over 1,200 who hail from the city, Damascus, reportedly being directly affected.
Half a year after Denmark's ruling, it has been reported that some Syrian refugee families have decided to flee the country for the Netherlands and Belgium, hoping they would protect them from the Danish government's policies.
According to the report by the Arabic-language news channel Syria Television, the families who fled Denmark are to be returned within the coming weeks, where they will again face possible detention and deportation by Danish authorities.
