Copenhagen: 23 July 2008

Today we addressed one of the hot topics of Danish politics. We visited the Red Cross refugee center in Sandholm. Touring the center we visited the kindergarten, the reception area and one of the apartments. The kindergarten teacher showed us the personalised folders with pictures made to remind the children of their time at the center, but despite this we were left with an impression of a very sterile and impersonal place.

Maja Rettrup Andersen from the Danish Red Cross Asylum Department talked to us about the different challenges asylum seekers face and the shift in political climate towards asylum seekers. An indicator of these changing attitudes was demonstrated by the dramatic decrease in asylum centres from 160 at a point before 2001 to now only five. During our time with Maja we discussed the Red Cross reliance on government funding and their mission of neutrality.

In the afternoon we met with Michala Bendixen from the Refugee’s Underground Committee. The committee works on behalf of the asylum seekers by advocating their cases and appeals through the legal system. She shared three case studies with us that personalised the stories behind asylum seekers. Reza, one of the people we talked about, was threatened in his home country because of his involvement with a student group that was critical of the Iranian government. Because he was unable to convince the authorities of the reality of the threats he wasn’t granted asylee status.

Next we heard from Sameer Al-Gamal who shared his experience going through the asylum system for the past seven years. He introduced himself as a previous expert on business and finance but a current expert on the asylum system. After being beaten and hospitalized in Lebanon due to allegations of a connection to Yassir Arafat, Sameer and his family fled to Denmark. Their initial request and court appeal for political asylum were rejected but they were finally granted asylum in 2006. One of the great tragedies of the experience was the fact that Sameer felt that he had spent the last six years doing nothing. He and his wife hadn’t had the opportunity to pursue higher education. Sameer was critical of the Danish government for failing to live up to the international conventions it had signed, as well as the Red Cross because of its inability to be simultaneously neutral and loyal to the government.

The organisational and personal perspectives highlighted the complexity of refugee issues. Having our eyes opened to the harsh realities asylum seekers face helped us to understand why refugee issues are so hotly debated in Denmark.

--Jessica Mar and Anne Sørenson