Now she is being offered evacuation, but when she gets to Denmark the government wants the mother of two thrown out again

The Danish government wants to bring a mother and her two children home from Syria.

This is stated by Minister of Immigration and Integration Kaare Dybvad Bek (S) in a press release.

“Following a renewed, overall assessment, the government has decided to offer evacuation to two more children and the children’s mother – regardless of the issue of the mother’s citizenship. This is an overall assessment, in which, among other things, connection to Denmark has been included. It is hardly a secret that the government’s parties have different views on this subject.’

According to Politiken’s information, it is a woman with Moroccan citizenship and her two children aged 4 and 5 respectively.

“There must be no doubt that the woman who is now being offered evacuation is in no way wanted in Denmark. And the government attaches great importance to ensuring that the mother, when she does come to Denmark, will be prosecuted to the fullest extent possible and held accountable for her crimes. And that she will be sought to be deported from Denmark if the conditions are met”, says Kaare Dybvad.

The last mother has Somali roots, but she and her six-year-old son are not going to come to Denmark. The government continues to offer that the last child in the camp can come to Denmark. But not the child’s mother.

The Danish People’s Party’s immigration rapporteur Pia Kjærsgaard is completely at a loss for Friday’s decision.

“It is completely irresponsible. This is in complete contradiction to what the government – ​​above all the Social Democracy led by Mette Frederiksen – has stood for in the past. So it’s a turn of events that will do. We have enough Islamists in Denmark, so it is completely, completely irresponsible”, she says.

Pia Kjærsgaard has already called Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen (M), Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard (S) and Immigration and Integration Minister Kaare Dybvad Bek (S) for consultation on 14 June before Friday’s decision. Here, Pia Kjærsgaard wants an answer to how the government imagines that the mother will be able to be deported, which the government opens up to.

“After all, it’s completely on the horse and only to silence the critics,” says Pia Kjærsgaard.

Enhedslisten’s judicial and immigration rapporteur Rosa Lund sees the decision in a completely different way.

“I am extremely relieved that the government has taken a decision to take two more children to Denmark. It has been a year-long battle for me and Enhedslisten to get these children to Denmark. And now we have succeeded in getting two more children here,’ she says.

On the other hand, Enhedslisten is critical of the fact that the last child is not helped here.

“I can understand Kaare Dybvad that this is a compromise, but children’s lives and health are simply not something you compromise on,” she says.

Rosa Lund now wants to call Lars Løkke Rasmussen in consultation so that he can explain why the last child must remain in Syria.

Second evacuation

It is the second time this year that the SVM government has offered evacuation from the Syrian camps.

In March, a Danish-Iranian mother and her two young children were offered evacuation after the Supreme Court overturned a judgment from the high court and ruled that it was invalid when the Ministry of Immigration and Integration stripped the woman of her Danish citizenship in 2020.

She was therefore offered evacuation following the fact that the former S-government agreed in 2021 with a political majority to bring three women with Danish citizenship and their combined 14 children to Denmark.

According to Politiken’s information, the Danish-Iranian woman and her two children have not yet come to Denmark despite the offer of evacuation in March.

The SVM government has since had to decide on the fate of the last two mothers and their children and has now landed in something that looks like a compromise.

On the one hand, the Moderates led by Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen (M) both before and after the general election in November fought for all the remaining mothers and their children to be offered evacuation, while the Social Democrats led by Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (S) until now has refused to evacuate women without Danish citizenship.

The prime minister’s point of departure was originally that the women had turned their backs on Denmark and that they should stay in the camps.

In the previous election period, sparks flew between the prime minister and the supporting parties, who praised her for wanting to be “the children’s prime minister” – just not the children in Syria. After a highly tense process, Frederiksen changed course in the spring of 2021 in the form of the political agreement.

Liberals have been on the same line as the Social Democrats.

Politiken asked the Prime Minister on Friday afternoon if she has now softened her previous position that only mothers with Danish citizenship should be offered evacuation from the Syrian camps. She had no comment on that.

Immigration spokesperson for the Danish Democrats Peter Skaarup calls the new offer to the mother and her children “a scandal”.

Friday’s announcement is also “a victory” for the Moderates.

“The Social Democrats and the Left were not in favor of taking anyone from the Islamic State. Now it is 1-0 to Lars Løkke. And it just goes beyond the citizens of Denmark, who are going to pay. And who may now be concerned that we are getting another supporter of the Islamic State here”, says Peter Skaarup.