Refugees and asylum policies in Denmark, June 8

We visited the Sandholm refugee camp situated in the countryside where citizens do not have to be directly confronted with its existence. Ann-Sofie Beck from the Danish Red Cross Asylum Department gave an introduction to the asylum policies and procedures in Denmark, and her colleague, a social worker, gave us a guided tour inside the camp. Comparing the concentration camp Sachsenhausen which we visited in Germany and the Sandholm refugee camp, our
primary impression was that there were some similarities. Confinement is an essential element in both institutions; even at Sandholm, you have to enter through a gate, and the camp is fenced. We think that another similarity between the two types of confinement is that in both cases human beings were forced to be there, in Sachsenhausen directly forced as a result of inhuman practises, in Sandholm indirectly forced as a result of human reasons. What also struck us were the effects of the psychology of detention; the feeling that you cannot do anything or live a normal life, and yet you are not imprisoned.


The parents in Sandholm are not even in control of the education of their children as most of the activities are done by the Red Cross.A similarity between Sandholm and refugee camps in e.g. Sierra Leone is that you become helpless, loose your dignity and feel like a second grade citizen. In this way you take away their personal responsibility. Living in a no mans land they are made into bare life. The camp seemed to have many of the characteristics that define a total institution. However, Ann-Sofie Beck pointed at the dilemma that if you open up your borders, many people will attempt to enter the country.Another thing, it made us reflect on was the fact that Denmark is in need of man power or working force. So does humanity as a consequence come from bare interest or true humanity? A consequence of the strict asylum policy in Denmark in order to limit the number of asylum seekers, the Danish state is now through law making refugees into criminals.

The journalist Olav Hergel offered a speech on the Danish asylum policy in a media perspective. He won a prestigious price as he wrote stories about the life of children in Danish refugee camps. However, we were wondering why the Danish newspapers to a large degree write negative stories instead of positive stories. Hergel did not seem to acknowledge the responsibility of the media in general in its contribution to the construction of reality. In his opinion, it was only the tabloid press that brought stories that fed into a predominantly negative discourse about Muslims which categorizes and stigmatizes a group in the society and make it into a minority, which the majority have a hostile perception of. He did not seem to admit that he himself by defining people by their religion confirmed a dichotomous discourse in the Danish media. His speech made some of us find that when you look at societies naturally human being do not hate each other. The explanation of hate and exclusion derives not primarily from nationalism but from the fear of loosing your welfare and when you find that someone is a threat to your being, that is, what you consider your identity.

Finally, the director of the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIM) Morten Kjærum gave a speech on the work of the institute. A clear indication and symptom in itself of the status quo in Denmark is that DIM was temporarily closed down because they fight against discrimination and xenophobia. He made the interesting point that regarding the current lack of women in leader positions in Denmark despite 40 years of fight for equality of the sexes there is still a long way to go concerning the rights of minorities. Kjærum found that the two main challenges today is the fight against terrorism and discrimination. Interestingly, he stressed that it is possible to fight against terrorism and insist on the maintenance of human rights simultaneously. Another important view of Kjærum to be memorized is that extremism/fundamentalism and humanism are two contrary attitudes that can be found in all environments or groups. Keeping this in mind, we find it important to notice how e.g. some political formations in Denmark, left wing as well as right wing, are currently developing ideas and suggesting solutions that include violent measures. In this sense, we find that another challenge is how to enter into a dialogue with such political formations.

Inge, Enes and Joseph