'Ayan og Ali'

Eleven years before we met her, Ayan came here from Somalia to be reunited with her husband. They had a son, who was at that time 11 years old. Ali has a developmental disorder, so he had extra support in kindergarten and attends a special school. Ayan had passed the language test Danish Education 2 as well as 9th grade, she has had various part-time jobs and has been active in her local community, including receiving a diploma from Bydelsmødrene (Neighbourhood Mothers). Her son demands a lot of her time, so it has been difficult for her to have a full-time job. Today, she is studying to become a social and health care assistant.
 
In 2019, Ayan’s husband divorced her and left her and Ali. He returned to Somalia and has not been in contact with them since. When Ayan and Ali's residence permits were due for renewal, the Immigration Service discovered that her husband had moved and that they had been divorced – and therefore refused to renew either of them.

Their 9-10 years of legal residence was not considered a sufficient connection to Denmark under the rules. For children, the years before starting school are not really considered that important, and for adults, you need to have been in Denmark for more than 10 years and have been integrated ‘very strongly’, i.e. a full-time job and total assimilation. The immigration authorities assessed that both the child's and the mother's ties to Somalia were stronger and did not consider whether the child was able to receive an adequate education in Somalia. The fact that Ayan has no family network left in Somalia was also not taken into account, but this would likely be decisive if she applied for asylum.

Although Ayan's husband had in fact been violent towards her and there were two police reports, one of which stated that she feared he would kill her, this did not qualify her for residence as a victim of violence. This is because it was her husband who divorced her and left her – thus she did not end the relationship due to violence. The decision was appealed to the Immigration Appeals Board by another legal advisor.
 
Refugees Welcome took over the case at the last minute before it was decided at the Immigration Appeals Board – and we fortunately had the revocation of both residence permits overturned. The advisory organisation that had previously represented Ayan had overlooked the fact that Ali had also lost his residence permit – and it was he who was the strongest card in this case. The Appeals Board found in Ali’s favour; he did in fact have strong enough ties to Denmark as well as having special needs, and he therefore got his residence permit back and, on that basis, his mum got hers back too.

The next day, the volunteer advisor at Refugee Welcome received this message from Ayan: ‘Thank you so much for your help. Without your help, we would never have been allowed to stay in Denmark and get a residence permit. Ali and I are so happy for your efforts. We will never forget you, and we will visit you during the summer holidays to thank you properly.’