Little Im is home again

After celebrating her eighth birthday in forced exile, media darling back in Jutland

Im Nielsen, arguably the best-known 8-year-old girl in all of Denmark, is back home. 

Im and her mother, Suthida, arrived back in Denmark yesterday following nearly two months in Thailand. The Nielsens were forced to leave Denmark after Im’s Danish stepfather died of cancer and the immigration authorities ruled that the family had lost their legal ties to Denmark. 

The uproar surrounding Im’s plight quickly made national news and eventually led to all parties in parliament, with the notable exception of Dansk Folkeparti, agreeing to amend immigration laws to help Im and her mother return to Denmark and to prevent similar deportations in the future. 

READ MORE: 'Im's law' criticised for valuing integration over welfare

The mother and daughter’s return to Denmark was greeted with much joy and fanfare. Upon arrival at Aalborg Airport, Im was greeted by a large group of her classmates at Aabybro School. Joined by two of her friends, Im and her mother where then driven home in a white limousine as cheering supporters lined the streets. 

“It is great to come home and go to school again,” Im Nielsen told Politiken newspaper. 

The young girl said that she had celebrated a birthday, Christmas and New Year’s while in Thailand, but that she would have much rather celebrated those days in Denmark.

READ MORE: Special law saves Thai girl but hundreds aren't so lucky

She told Politiken that "it wasn’t so great” to be in Thailand because she “didn’t have anyone to play with”. Im Nielsen does not speak Thai. 

The young girl also still has trouble understanding why she had to leave her home in Aaybybro in the first place.

“I think it is because my dad is dead,” she told Politiken. “So the judge made us leave. I don’t think that is a reason to make us leave.”

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