legal and social conditions for asylum seekers and refugees in ...

SOCIAL CONDITIONS FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS
Introduction/legal basis
The legal basis determining the social conditions for asylum seekers entering Denmark is
Sections 40 to 43.a of the Aliens Act and Ministerial Regulations No. 550 of 26 June 1999. The
latest amendment of the Aliens Act took place in 1998 and several changes are foreseen for
2000.
The Aliens Act is providing the frame of social rights granted to asylum seekers in Denmark, the
details hereof are determined in a yearly contract between the Immigration Service and the
Danish Red Cross.
Accommodation
Upon agreement with the Immigration Service, the Danish Red Cross is responsible for all
humanitarian tasks – social, medical and other tasks – connected to the accommodation of
asylum seekers in Denmark.
All asylum seekers arriving in Denmark are referred to one of the two reception centres run by the
Red Cross: Sandholm, located 35 km north for Copenhagen, with a capacity of 480 beds (of
which approximately 70 are reserved for emergency accommodation), and Avnstrup, which is
located about 40 km east for Copenhagen and has a capacity of 441 beds.
Asylum seekers are not expected to spend more than a maximum of six weeks at these reception
centres. Within this period, registration of the applicant’s nationality and identity should be
completed by the Police, and the Danish Immigration Service should conduct the preliminary
interviews with the applicants. Asylum seekers accommodated in the reception centres are
offered a medical check-up and treatment for acute illness. As both Sandholm and Avnstrup are
open centres, asylum seekers may freely come and go.
After the reception period all asylum seekers are offered accommodation at an accommodation
centre. It is also possible to apply for permission from the Immigration Service to reside with
friends or family members, but asylum seekers who do so are not entitled to any financial
assistance.
At the time of writing (May 2000), the Danish Red Cross runs 42 accommodation centres
including four centres for refugees from Kosovo, located throughout the country. In addition, the
Danish Civil Defence is running six centres for asylum seekers and two for refugees from Kosovo.
The Immigration Service is responsible for allocating asylum seekers in the centres.
Most accommodation centres have been established in former rest homes, hospitals, military
barracks or in so-called “refugee villages”, which were initially built to receive Bosnian war
refugees in the early nineties. Conditions in the centres are generally good. Four to five single
persons may have to share one room (sometimes in bunk beds). Couples and families are
usually given their own room.
With the exception of a centre (Kongelunden) designed to accommodate mentally ill asylum
seekers, all centres are equipped to facilitate own cooking. At the centres for unaccompanied
minors (see below) “cooking programmes” are offered. Very young children or disabled are
offered catering services.
Asylum seekers have the right to be away from their accommodation centre for six weeks per
year. They must inform the centre’s staff of their absence and provide for an address or a
53
Denmark