Udenrigsudvalget 2021-22
URU Alm.del Bilag 85
Offentligt
2502853_0001.png
Danish Immigration Services
Attention: Department reg. Country of Origin information
Sandholmgårdsvej 40
3460 Birkerød
14. December 2021
Subject: Country of Origin (COI) report on Syria and Amnesty
International’s comments
Amnesty International would like to comment on the Danish Immigration Service’s
recent COI-report from October on
issues regarding return to Syria
which we have
read with interest. We appreciate the Immigration
Service’s inclusion of Amnesty
International’s report ‘You’re
going to your death’
in its background information.
Having read the report closely, we have noted several inaccurate statements in
the report and have additional comments on the information and analysis
presented in the report.
We are aware that the Immigration Service is determined to be as neutral and
objective as possible without drawing conclusions in their COI-reports. However,
we found that the brief misrepresents some facts involving the security clearance
and settlement of status processes, security risks posed by the Syrian security
forces and intelligence apparatus, and implications on lack of monitoring and
protection.
On page 12, the report states that
“Syrian
citizens who want to return to Syria but
who have left the country illegally due to the conflict, or who have unsettled
military and security issues, can settle their issues with the Government of Syria”.
Amnesty International wants to stress that this information comes from the Syrian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Syrian Embassy in Stockholm. These sources
cannot be considered neutral. Research shows that not having performed the
military service is a very common reason for people to be detained upon return.
Amnesty International has documented cases of people who were detained for
this reason for several months and then sent to the army in Idlib.
1
 URU, Alm.del - 2021-22 - Bilag 85: Henvendelse af 14. december 2021 fra Amnesty International om Syrien og Amnestys kritik af Udlændingestyrelsens seneste rapport
Further on the same page it states that a person needs to settle his/her status with
the Syrian authorities to have his/her name removed from the wanted lists, which
leads to the person not being wanted anymore and will thus not be prosecuted by
the government of Syria. This description appears incredibly simplistic without
considering the risks involved with applying for status settlement which requires
engaging with Syrian security and intelligence forces responsible for arbitrary
detention, torture and disappearance amounting to crimes against humanity.
Secondly, given that this process is not official or legally prescribed, there is no
assurance that a security clearance approval would protect individuals, including
refugees returning to Syria, from arbitrary detention. Thirdly, the report fails to
highlight how such processes expose refugees and their families to scrutiny by the
authorities, with the risk to lead to detention.
To that effect, the report should reflect the arbitrariness and opaque nature of the
security clearance and settlement processes and how they do not in any way
protect or ensure the safety of a refugee upon return. The report currently
provides the reader with false assurance of the process and easiness of being
removed from the wanted lists without addressing the fact that these processes
are not necessarily successful.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have documented several cases
in which Syrian security and intelligence forces have arbitrarily detained refugees
returning to Syria despite obtaining a security clearance.
This demonstrates the point that these processes are flawed and arbitrary and do
not provide protection or safety guarantees, which the COI report should reflect.
The report accurately states on page 14 that many Syrians do not trust the
authorities and therefore would not settle their security status through embassies
or consulates. However, this remark should itself lead to a concern exposing the
perceived dangers of interacting with the Syrian authorities. The lack of trust in
the authorities should be mentioned in the report.
On page 16, the report depicts the returnee’s interaction with the Syrian
security
service as unproblematic when going through a security clearance process in Syria.
The risks and consequences that might follow from this interaction is not
accounted for or even flagged as a
potential risk. Based on Amnesty International’s
latest report, as well as research conducted in the past 10 years, the security
services have committed arbitrary detention, torture, and enforced
disappearance with impunity. Additionally, Amnesty International and Human
2
 URU, Alm.del - 2021-22 - Bilag 85: Henvendelse af 14. december 2021 fra Amnesty International om Syrien og Amnestys kritik af Udlændingestyrelsens seneste rapport
Rights Watch recently documented cases of returnees who were subjected to
serious violations upon return and after obtaining security clearances. The ‘visit’
to the intelligence service as part of the settlement process is thus not as risk-free
as portrayed in the COI-report.
The Immigration Service’s report seems to ignore
the historical context of the
Syrian government and its security and intelligence forces which since the start of
the conflict have committed brutal violations against civilians. It is important to
highlight that the perpetrators have remained in power and continue to commit
war crimes and crimes against humanity with impunity.
In the chapter on treatment upon return, we find it contradictory to note that
there has not been sufficient research on what happens to returnees in Syria and
that reliable figures on arrests and detention are not available. If the Danish
Immigration Services considers this to be the case, we question what makes it
possible for the Immigration Service to claim that conditions are sufficiently safe
in Syria. We find it furthermore problematic as it downplays the arbitrary nature
of violations and dangers that we (Amnesty International) and Human Rights
Watch have showed in our reports though a combination of 131 cases throughout
almost four years (mid-2017- April 2021) covering various areas under the control
of the Syrian government.
It is important to note that the Syrian government has consistently blocked the
UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria from entering Syria to investigate violations.
The fact that neither the Commission of Inquiry, nor the UNHCR are able to
monitor and report on violations and ill-treatment against people returning to
Syria indicates that refugees have no guarantee of protection. It would benefit the
overall presentation of the report to highlight this.
Furthermore, on page 21 of the COI report regarding the consequences of
settlement of security issues for family members, it is stated that relatives have
faced
issues
with the authorities without providing details about what these issues
might be. It could potentially be serious human rights violations which ought to be
flagged. The lack of details does not do justice to the seriousness of some the risks
involved for individuals seeking status settlement as well as their family members.
We regret the way
Amnesty International’s methodology
is presented and we had
hoped that our findings would add to the overall assessment of arbitrariness
violations returnees might face
–
independent of security clearance/status
settlement. Our recent report should be considered in the light of ten year-long
3
 URU, Alm.del - 2021-22 - Bilag 85: Henvendelse af 14. december 2021 fra Amnesty International om Syrien og Amnestys kritik af Udlændingestyrelsens seneste rapport
2502853_0004.png
violations by the Syrian authorities which Amnesty International, the UN and other
organisations, have documented throughout the whole period. Our research’s
findings can thus not be dismissed on the ground that the report
“solely” covered
66 cases.
Our research document violations against returnees, including arbitrary
detention, sexual violence, and other ill-treatment upon return as direct
consequence of their initial displacement, a condition that may apply to every
returnee. Women are as much at risk as men. The arbitrariness of violence and
violations means that Syria is not safe for any returnees
–
whether having obtained
a security clearance or status settlement or not.
We appreciate the continued attention on the situation in Syria by the Danish
Immigration Service and welcome further discussion and involvement on the
issue. We hope the agency will take our comments into consideration going
forward.
Yours sincerely
Marie Forestier
Researcher/adviser on refugee and migrant rights
Lisa Blinkenberg
Senior Advisor
4