Malak, Vestbredden/Irak

Malak’s parents came to Denmark in 2001 when she was a newborn baby. Her parents are from Northern Iraq and the occupied West Bank, respectively.

They were denied asylum, as were nearly all other applicants from Iraq despite the war. But they couldn’t be deported because neither of the two places would permit entry for their spouse. They ended up spending 11 years in asylum centres and had another daughter in 2007.
 
Refugees Welcome wrote about the family in the report “Asylum Camp Limbo”, and we succeeded in securing a humanitarian residence permit when Malak’s mother became mentally ill due to the long wait.

In 2014, RW managed to obtain residence on the grounds of the children’s attachment (paragraph 9(c), section 1), one of the first cases after the legal change that we helped bring about. 

Malak’s parents are both highly educated and active in society, and her father has supported the family ever since they received humanitarian residence. After just 4 years of legal residence, her father met all the strict requirements for permanent residence, and after 8 years, he obtained Danish citizenship.

Malak and her sister are exceptionally gifted and, despite growing up in various asylum centres, they have done remarkably well. At age 15, Malak published an opinion piece in her local newspaper, challenging the negative portrayal of refugees in the media. She is now studying medicine in Odense and was part of the panel at Christiansborg when RW launched the report “A Firm Hand in the Back” in 2021.