Denmark tries paying Syrian refugees to return home

DW (English)

Half a year after dictator Bashar Assad was toppled in Syria, some European countries are trying to incentivize Syrians to return voluntarily. Denmark offers hefty return support payments, but most Syrians in the Nordic nation aren't taking up the offer.

Transcript

00:00This refugee-run restaurant in the Danish city of Orhus tastes like a home many thought

00:05was lost to them forever. But now Syrians here are faced with a choice, whether to stay

00:10or go.

00:11I haven't decided yet. After the Assad regime fell, we started to feel normal again, like

00:18I'm Syrian again. I feel emotionally and morally relieved. But it's a bit saddening that we've

00:24been here in Denmark for 10 years now, working hard, and we still don't have proper papers.

00:29The Danish government provides Syrians and other refugees up to US$38,000 if they're

00:38willing to return, tens of thousands more than in nearby Germany.

00:43While many here like the policy in principle, only around 120 Syrians have taken up the offer

00:48this year.

00:49Because the situation in Syria is not stable or something, every day it's changed. When

00:57we called our family in Syria, also they said, we don't think it's good for you to come home.

01:06Yeah.

01:07Refugee support volunteer Yusuf fled Syria's civil war after an attack by regime soldiers

01:12left him disabled. He's one of roughly 45,000 Syrians in Denmark, and says most here feel

01:19the stakes are too high to leave.

01:21I have kids now here. They born here. They didn't know anything about Syria. When I talk

01:26to them about that, what do you think if we go back to Syria? My daughter, she didn't answer

01:32me by word. She just took a look off my leg and walked away. If someone don't feel safe, this

01:41bonus will mean nothing for him.

01:43Denmark is renowned for its restrictive migration and integration policies. In the past, its

01:51centre-left government declared a zero-refugees goal.

01:55This was done under a Social Democrat-led government, which remains in power until today. But many

02:01of the points that were then put forward seem very much like what would be out of the playbook

02:09of a more conservative or right-wing political agenda. You could consider it as sort of a

02:14front-runner when it comes to migration and asylum policy that we see across Europe nowadays.

02:22The country sparked controversy by revoking some Syrians' residence permits as far back

02:26as 2019, though legal and political challenges meant no one was ever deported. Denmark says

02:32it now wants to engage more with those in power in Syria.

02:36I think the jury is still out. What happened in Syria opened a window of opportunity. That's

02:42why we have abolished some of the sanctions. It is with the ambition that we could create

02:49such a stable situation in Syria that many of the Syrians who reached Europe back in 2015

02:56could return. But we haven't, you know, taken any concrete decisions yet.

03:01While some fear Denmark's return bonus may morph into an expulsion order, criminals would likely

03:06be first in line for future deportations. And Yousef says he feels secure for now. He's applied to go and

03:13visit his birth country and has been collecting donations of prosthetic limbs.

03:17It's to send it to Syria, to people who can use it. Yeah, because there is a need for stuff like that. A big need, yeah.

03:27His hope is to help others who will always bear the scars of a past without peace.

03:33It's, That's right.

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