Day 11 - Wednesday, June 17th

Refugees in Denmark – The Human Consequences

While discussing human rights in a theoretical context can lead to heartfelt convictions and unwavering opinions about right and wrong, things become more complicated when one is confronted with real life situations in which an array of human rights issues come into play. Today we visited the Sandholm Center, one of Denmark’s largest facilities for housing and processing of people seeking asylum in this country. We arrived at the facility and were greeted by two friendly Red Cross workers who immediately informed us that the large metal gate through which we had just walked was in fact there to keep unwanted visitors out, rather than to keep the asylum seekers in. We then began a tour of the premises, visiting the dining hall, the pre-school, and one of the apartments reserved for families. All of the facilities seemed clean and orderly, but as we absorbed some of the statistics our guides offered us the harsh reality began to sink in. Sandholm, which is a former army base, houses around 600 asylum seekers at a time, of the 2,300 currently in Denmark. Of those, less than 40% will actually be granted asylum, leading to a terrifying state of limbo for many of the people whose pleas are rejected. While an asylum case normally takes about 9-10 months to process, after being granted a rejection many people wind up spending up to 10-12 years living at Sandholm because they do not feel that they can return to their home countries, usually due to fear of death or other personal harm. While at Sandholm they cannot legally work or officially learn Danish, cannot receive visitors without officially registering them with Sandholm in advance, and must receive all health care through the facility. It is here that the moral lines begin to fade and strong questions of human rights violations come to the forefront. As agency and dignity are stripped away from the people idling their lives away at Sandholm, are they truly being granted all of their rights as citizens of the human race?

This question, as well as many others, was addressed by our next speaker, Dr. Bente Rich, a psychiatrist who works with and for asylum speakers in Denmark and other countries. Dr. Rich discussed the prevalence of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) among refugees, stressing the fact that many of them develop the disorder not directly after fleeing their country but instead after years of wanton waiting in facilities such as Sandholm. She also brought up the intensely negative effects on children, citing that laws were changed in 2006 allowing children of asylum seekers to attend regular Danish schools. However, 83% of such children were too low functioning to do so, often due to psychological issues, and thus had to remain segregated. If PTSD remains untreated, as it

does among many refugees, other disorders can develop such as depression, personality disorders, or even psychotic disorders. Such a lack of treatment offers a rather direct example of a violation concerning the right to the best obtainable health. It was suggested both by Dr. Bente and by fellows that such poor treatment seems to be being used to create an example for others who might want to immigrate to Denmark, stalling a potentially large influx of asylum seekers from such war-torn countries as Iraq and Afghanistan. This conclusion was one that was saddening and appalling to all of us, bringing forth questions of when and how it is ever appropriate for pragmatic policy to override basic human rights.

In the afternoon we did a workshop on refugee life in Denmark, facilitated by Lotte Rask from the Centre for archaeological research and communication. The workshop took its starting point in an exercise where we had to pretend to be supervisors giving the Danish government advice about the refugees coming to Denmark after the outbreak of the conflict in Bosnia in 1991. During the workshop we were asked to discuss and take a stance in very concrete matters, i.e. -

Should the group of refugees be granted a permanent residence permit?

Should they be allowed to study in Denmark for free?

Which family member should they be able to be reunified with, if any?

These questions spurred many debates especially as ideological considerations, personal experiences and pragmatism were taken into account.

We ended the day at a somehow happier event, namely at the GAM3 street basketball tournament and event in Avedøre, outside of Copenhagen. GAM3 is a non-profit organization that is set out to revive the streets and support a worldwide urban culture community. At the event, organized by Mikkel, an HIA senior fellow, we played basketball with local kids, listened to music and watched street art being done. Some of us even tried to learn breakdance - unfortunately the local kids were much more talented! Still, a very good way to end a day on refugee life and cultural diversity in Denmark.

By Jamila and Ursula