Inger Støjberg, Denmark’s former migration minister and current MP for the Liberal Party, has requested that Syrian asylum seekers — many of whom have lived in the Scandinavian country for nearly a decade now — begin making arrangements to leave the country. She also asked that the asylum seekers to kindly give thanks to the generous Danes who ensured their well-being when they needed it most.
In an open letter posted to Facebook which garnered more than 21,000 shares, the former Danish migration ministered directly addressed Syrian asylum seekers currently residing in her country, stating that now is the time for them to pack their belongings, go home, and begin rebuilding their own homeland, Jyllands-Posten reports.
“Dear Syrian refugees,” Støjberg writes. “Now it’s time to go home again. I was foreign minister when you came to Denmark. I therefore know exactly what was the agreement between you and us Danes when you came. The deal was that we protected you while the war raged, but that you should of course travel home the day it became possible for you again.”
The former minister continued on, writing: “Now the time has come for you to begin your journey home to rebuild Syria up again. That was the deal — and you have a moral obligation to fulfill it. Without objections and without questions, but in gratitude to the Danish people.”
In March, Denmark — via policies enacted by its ruling Social Democratic government — became the first European Union member state to begin revoking the residency permits of Syrian asylum seekers whose homes have been deemed safe to return to. The Danish government also made the ground-breaking decision to no longer grant refugee status to Syrian asylum seekers, as Remix News previously reported
At the time, Danish Immigration Minister Mattias Tesfaye noted that the conditions in Syria had improved significantly, which means that their stay in Denmark is technically no longer necessary.
Similar to the sentiment expressed by Støjberg in her open letter, Tesfaye said: “We only have to provide protection for those people for as long as they need to, but now, the refugees should return home.”
Støjberg, in her letter, expresses her sympathy for Syrian refugees, and the position they find themselves in, writing that she understands that it’s more comfortable to live in Denmark than it is Damascus.
“I can easily understand that in many ways it is better and more comfortable to be here in Denmark than in Damascus. But Denmark is not your homeland. Denmark gave you temporary protection while you needed it, and therefore you must of course comply with the authorities’ instructions to leave Denmark when the assessment is that it is possible. We have a very robust, finely-tuned, and good system in terms of legal security in Denmark, both when it is decided whether you get asylum in this country and when it is decided whether the residence permit is revoked,” she writes.
“About 140,000 Syrians have already voluntarily returned to Syria from the surrounding areas, and when they can, of course you can,” Støjberg continues.
To help speed up efforts to repatriate Syrian asylum seekers, Denmark’s ruling Social Democrat party — led by Mette Frederiksen — has placed pressure on and given financial incentives to asylum seekers to return home. In Late March, Remix News reported that the left-wing workers’ party had enacted a policy which gives asylum seekers whose residence permits have been rescinded two choices: voluntarily repatriate themselves and receive a €30,000 incentive, or live at a facility which is housing asylum seekers.
In conclusion, Denmark’s former migration minister reiterates points previously touched upon in the letter. She writes: “Dear Syrian refugees. Now the time has come for those of you who have had your residence permits withdrawn to pack your things, travel home, and begin the reconstruction of your own country. And along the way, feel free to send the Danes a big thank you for all the help you received while you needed it. The Danes deserve it.”
While Støjberg’s letter and Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s migration policies have drawn praise from Morten Messerschmidt, the leader of the populist Danish People’s Party’, among others, they’ve also been heavily criticized by those on Denmark’s globalist left, including Sofie Carsten Nielsen, the current leader of the Danish Social Liberal Party.
Nielsen slammed the Danish prime minister over her government’s recently enacted migration policies, saying: “We in the Social Liberal Party were so naive that we did not foresee that the Social Democrats do not care about the UN, with fundamental rights and with separate families and send young women back to Assad’s regime in Syria.”
Denmark’s policies toward Syrian asylum seekers has also drawn harsh criticism from far-left, Green politicians in Germany. Days ago, in an open letter addressed to Prime Minister Frederiksen, several MEPs from Germany’s far-left, pro-mass migration Green Party called on the Danish leader to “rethink” her government’s immigration policy approach, and to reverse “current asylum and migration policy by 180 degrees,” Remix News reported.
