Denmark says Syria is safe for return of refugees

Some 94 Syrian refugees have had their residency permits stripped after Denmark deemed their areas of origin in Syria to be safe for their return.

Denmark has said Syrian refugees should return to their country, after deeming parts of the wartorn state – the area around the capital Damascus – safe.

Mattias Tesfaye, Denmark’s immigration minister, said last month: “We have made it clear to the Syrian refugees that their residence permit is temporary. It can be withdrawn if protection is no longer needed.”Migrants will be sent to deportation camps in the interim and will not be forced to leave, under the new plan.

Some 350 Syrians will now have their status reassessed. In addition to the 900 cases which had already been reopened last year when the government was considering taking this move.

Rights groups have warned against such a move, with many warning that despite assurances by the Assad regime about refugees’ safety when they return to Syria, those who have returned have often been subject to arrest, interrogation, and torture by the regime’s security and intelligence services.

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