Rejection of asylum – then what?
Can the case be re-opened at the Refugee Appeals Board?
If an asylum claim is rejected by the Danish Immigration Service through a Manifestly Unfounded Procedure or by the Refugee Appeals Board through a Normal procedure, the asylum case is then settled and no longer subject to appeal.
You will be moved to return center Avnstrup if you agree to voluntary return. If you refuse, you will either stay in Avnstrup, but under restricted conditions (families) or be moved to the deportation centre Kærshovedgård in Mid Jutland (singles people). You no longer have access to pocket money, internship, jobs etc. The Return Agency will try to persuade you to cooperate, and in the end deport you by force if possible.
Read more in detail about the issue of rejected asylum seekers and return in the report "A Firm Hand" by Michala Clante Bendixen.
In order to re-open the case in the Refugee Appeals Board (which can easily take a year) at least one of the following things are required:
1) New and important information that was not available at the time when the asylum case was rejected
2) Evidence for things that the board had previously deemed to be untrue
3) The situation in the country of origin has changed radically
4) The board has made a procedural change in practice for other similar cases
5) A new asylum motive has arisen after the rejection.
However, very few cases are reopened and re-considered. Most asylum seekers get rejected because of lack of credibility and that is very hard to turn around.
Other options
Appeal to the UN Human Rights Committee or the European Human Rights Court (often takes several years)
If a lawyer or an organization that provides counselling assess that a case’s ruling is incorrect and that the case has a chance of being appealed to the UN Human Rights Committee or the European Human Rights Court, then it is possible to stop the deportation order of a rejected asylum seeker. However, this takes a lot of work and it can take a long time before the status of a case is determined. It might lead to another rejection in the end.
Humanitarian residence:
Only very ill people who cannot obtain treatment in their country of origin can be granted humanitarian residence. It requires medical documentation. Very few people are granted this status per year.
Marriage:
Asylum seekers are not entitled to get married in Denmark. There are different possibilities of compensation, but those are very strictly administered. Normally, this requires a valid passport and an established relationship. In order to obtain family reunification, you have to apply from your home country and meet a list of demands. The Danish demands are very strict, but if you can use the EU rules they are less rigid. Seek counselling for the individual case at a lawyer or an organisation that offers legal counselling.
If none of the possibilities mentioned is an option:
Often, the best option for rejected asylum seekers is to sign the papers for voluntary return. Occasionally, the Danish state gives rejected asylum seekers (who return voluntarily) a greater amount of cash that she/he will receive in her/his country of origin via IOM. If you are not collaborating, there is a risk of being imprisoned and deported. It is usually not possible for rejected asylum seekers to seek asylum in another EU country because the asylum seeker would be returned to Denmark (as per the rules of the Dublin Regulation).
Why can't all rejected asylum seekers be deported?
After a final rejection, the Danish Return Agency will try to persuade him/her to sign a contract of voluntary return, and to work actively on going back. However, very few will be persuaded. Applying for asylum usually means that the applicant is convinced of being in severe danger in his/her home country – no matter how the Danish authorities assess the case. Most people will therefore refuse to sign, resulting in the stamp "not collaborating".
There are usually around 1,000 persons in "return position" every year, and this number covers persons who just received a rejection as well as persons who spent 10-20 years in the asylum system. The largest group is from Iran. In 2019, 449 persons were sent out of Denmark, of these 23 on their own, 333 were put on a plane by the authorities, and 93 were deported accompanied by Danish police officers.
An even larger group disappear after rejection, the majority going to other countries in Europe and a smaller part living under ground in Denmark.
The smaller rest group will end up spending many years in the deportation centres, with no cash allowances and no right to work or education. Usually they will have a duty to spend the night in the centre, report to the Return Agency three times a week, and they might get arrested anytime under suspicion of going under ground.
The majority of asylum seekers arrive without a passport. When the Danish police wants to put them on a plane, they have to obtain or renew a passport from the authorities of the home country, or the home country must accept the return and issue temporary travel documents, known as Laissez Passer. This can be a serious struggle: no reply to the request, doubt about the identity, lack of will from the home country, demands from the home country that the return must be voluntary. In most cases it can be solved if the person has a genuine wish to return, but very few have, obviously.
During some periods, an offer of economic support after return has persuaded a certain amount of rejected asylum seekers to go back voluntarily. But it is a fact, that no matter how much Denmark has tried to make life unbearable and push people to go back, it has just caused more mental diseases and frustration. A small part of the rejected actually get their asylum case reopened, or they end up getting family reunification, which keeps up the hope for the others – but it also proves that mistakes and wrong decisions are made in the asylum procedure. Years ago, quite a number of rejected persons were granted humanitarian residence permit, mainly after becoming mentally ill after many years of waiting, but this practice is now so rigid that is is in fact impossible.
Read a short description of the centers and prison here, and find more detailed information about the whole issue in the report "A Firm Hand" and the older report "Asylum Camp Limbo".