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

Refusal of entry by the Immigration Service can be appealed to the Minister of Interior, but appeals
do not have suspensive effect. So far, there have been very few appeals lodged and not a single one
has proved to be successful.
The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) has access for counselling purposes (where requested by the
asylum seekers themselves) to all asylum seekers arriving at Copenhagen airport who are not
immediately admitted to the refugee determination procedure and who may risk rejection at the
border on “safe third country” grounds. The police are required to inform them of their right to seek
advice from the Danish Refugee Council, which is on call at all times (including evenings and
weekends).
When a decision has been taken to reject an asylum seeker on “safe third country” grounds, he/she
receives information in his/her own language explaining the reasons for the decision, together with
the address and telephone number of UNHCR or a refugee-assisting NGO in the country to which
he/she is to be sent. The asylum seeker also receives a statement in the language of that “safe third
country”, to be given to the receiving authorities there, explaining clearly that he/she has been
rejected by Denmark on “safe third country” grounds alone, that his/her asylum claim has not been
examined on its merits and that he/she wishes to apply for asylum in the third country. All the
information mentioned above has been produced by the DRC and approved by the Immigration
Service.
If the DRC is concerned that the asylum seeker may be refused access to the determination
procedure in the designated third country, it may directly inform UNHCR or a refugee-assisting NGO
in that country.
According to the Immigration Service, less than 20 applicants were rejected on “safe third country”
grounds and effectively returned to a third country in 1999, mainly to Norway and Switzerland.
Applicants rejected on “safe third country” grounds are not registered as asylum seekers and thus do
not enter in the official statistics of the Immigration Service.
Applicants allowed to enter the country – as well as those who cannot be returned to the designated
“safe third country” – are registered by the police as asylum seekers and admitted to the asylum
procedure (either manifestly unfounded or normal procedure) in Denmark.
The Dublin Convention
Section 29.a of the Aliens Act provides for the possibility of transferring (or re-transferring) an
alien to another EU state on the basis of the Dublin Convention. Detailed rules for this procedure
are laid down in Section 48.a to 48.d of the Act. Section 48a(2) contains a provision on nonrefoulement.
The Immigration Service’s Dublin Section is responsible for carrying out the procedure and, in
particular, for sending requests to take charge to other states and for processing those sent to
Denmark.
Denmark has concluded a bilateral agreement regarding the implementation of the Dublin
Convention with Sweden and Germany respectively. According to the Danish-Swedish
agreement, asylum seekers coming for Sweden and applying for asylum in a Danish port are
immediately returned to Sweden, where the authorities will carry out the Dublin procedure and
determine the responsible state.
A similar solution applies with Germany: asylum seekers who apply for asylum with the Danish
police at a land border point are considered to be still on German territory. Thus they are
immediately returned to Germany in order for that country to carry out the Dublin procedure. This
practice has been extended to applications submitted in ports and airports. In addition, by virtue
of another Danish-German agreement, applicants who have entered the country illegally from
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Denmark