Anti-immigrant discourse dehumanising Syria refugees, report says

Anti-immigrant discourse which is dehumanising displaced people is on the rise in Danish government circles and Syrian refugees are bearing the brunt, EUobserver reports today.

This comes as parliament yesterday passed a law that allows the nation to relocate asylum seekers outside of Europe to have their refugee claims assessed.

The UN opposed Denmark’s bill for fear it would erode refugee rights and encourage other EU states to follow suit.

A cloud of fear and uncertainty looms over refugees in Denmark as their newly constructed life could end any time.

In January, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told parliament that the government’s goal is to have ‘zero asylum-seekers coming to Denmark’.

“If you apply for asylum in Denmark you know that you will be sent back to a country outside Europe, and therefore we hope that people will stop seeking asylum in Denmark,” Rasmus Stoklund, the government party’s immigration speaker, told the broadcaster DR earlier this month.

After ten years of crisis, life is harder than ever for displaced Syrians. Millions have been forced to flee their homes since 2011, seeking safety as refugees in Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan and European countries, or have been left displaced inside Syria, according to the United Nations.

Today, 13.4 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in Syria.

Some 6.6 million live around the world, 5.6 million in countries that neighbour Syria, UN statistics showed in March.

Earlier this year Denmark became the first European Union nation to strip Syrian refugees of their citizenship on the grounds that Damascus and the surrounding areas are safe to return to and they no longer need international protection.

In April, Danish authorities revoked the residencies of 94 Syrian refugees in one week despite the fact that neither the UN nor other countries deem Damascus safe.

READ: Syria refugee hospitalised with stroke after Denmark revoke his residency