Record number of asylum-seekers heading home

Some 75 percent head home before their cases are even processed

Feb 2, 2017

A record number of asylum-seekers have left Denmark voluntarily and returned to their countries of origin, according to the UN’s Danish office for migration, the IOM.

The figures revealed that 532 asylum-seekers returned home last year – more than double the number who did so in 2015.

“More often, we hear explanations about a family member in their homeland becoming ill: a child in a hospital or a relative who is dying,” Jacob Jørgensen, a program officer with IOM in Copenhagen, told DR Nyheder.

About 75 percent of the asylum-seekers who leave Denmark voluntarily do so before their asylum cases have been processed.

Most to Iran
Jørgensen contends that many asylum-seekers leave Denmark again because it’s not the country they thought it was going to be.

“The story of Denmark sold to them by the human traffickers or someone else has turned out to be untrue,” said Jørgensen.

“For example it wasn’t as easy to get asylum as they had hoped. So they decide it’s better to return home than to rot away in an asylum centre.”

Most asylum-seekers who chose to return home came from Iran with 37 percent, followed by Iraq (13 percent), Russia (11 percent), Afghanistan (9 percent), Ukraine (8 percent) and others (22 percent).

The number of asylum-seekers arriving in Denmark also tailed off significantly last year. In 2015, over 21,300 arrived, but that was reduced to a trickle of just over 6,200 last year.

TOP STORIES

New US Arctic security strategy co-opts Denmark as Russia deterrent

The US Department of Defense on Monday released its 2024 Arctic Strategy – a roadmap for ensuring its interests in Arctic regional security and sovereignty. As it looks to its Arctic and NATO allies for support, Denmark can expect to play a greater role in deterring Russian attacks and land-grabs in the near future.
Anti-whaling activist and Greenpeace co-founder Paul Watson arrested in Greenland

The Canadian-American activist is wanted under a Red Notice issued by Japan. He will be produced before the Sermersooq Circuit Court today, with a request to detain him until a decision is made about his extradition.
Migratory birds bring dangerous ticks to Denmark

The first person in Denmark has been registered as bitten by a hunting tick – a carrier of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, which has a mortality rate of up to 50 percent. Warmer temperatures caused by climate change mean that the ticks, which previously died during the flight journeys of the migratory birds that carry them, increasingly survive and reach maturity in Denmark.
Planes grounded in CPH as worldwide IT outage hits airlines, media and banks

Major mass IT outages are hitting industries all over the world, with airlines, broadcasters, banks and supermarkets affected.
CrowdStrike director: IT outage issue “has been identifed”

The American cybersecurity company Crowdstrike, whose IT issues have caused chaos in industries all over the world this morning, says it has identified a “defect found in a single content update for Windows”, and is working on a fix.
Foreign labour contributes DKK 76 billion to Danish economy in three months

A new analysis from Dansk Erhverv has found that foreign labour contributed DKK 76 billion to GDP in the first three months of 2024, equivalent to 2.7 percent of Denmark’s total GDP.

Connect club

Connect Club is your gateway to a vibrant programme of events and an international community in Denmark.

Career

How internationals can benefit from joining trade unions

Being part of a trade union is a long-established norm for Danes. But many internationals do not join unions – instead enduring workers’ rights violations. Find out how joining a union could benefit you, and how to go about it.
Internationals in Denmark rarely join a trade union

Internationals are overrepresented in the lowest-paid fields of agriculture, transport, cleaning, hotels and restaurants, and construction – industries that classically lack collective agreements. A new analysis from the Workers’ Union’s Business Council suggests that internationals rarely join trade unions – but if they did, it would generate better industry standards.
Novo Nordisk overtakes LEGO as the most desirable future workplace amongst university students

The numbers are especially striking amongst the 3,477 business and economics students polled, of whom 31 percent elected Novo Nordisk as their favorite, compared with 20 percent last year.

Want to advertise your job with CPH Post?

Jobs

Subscribe to our newsletter

Contact

The Copenhagen Post /
The Post ApS

Ryesgade 106, 2. th

2100 København Ø

CVR: 43916181

Email: support@cphpost.dk

Phone: +45 7174 3199

We are responsible for the content and are registered with The Danish Press Council.

The Copenhagen Post

<?php

add_filter( 'register_post_type_job_listing', function( $array ) {
$array['rewrite']['pages'] = true;

return $array;
} );

Record number of asylum-seekers heading home

New US Arctic security strategy co-opts Denmark as Russia deterrent

Anti-whaling activist and Greenpeace co-founder Paul Watson arrested in Greenland

Migratory birds bring dangerous ticks to Denmark

Planes grounded in CPH as worldwide IT outage hits airlines, media and banks

CrowdStrike director: IT outage issue “has been identifed”

Foreign labour contributes DKK 76 billion to Danish economy in three months

26 May: ‘Visit Carlsberg’ tour at Home of Carlsberg

28 April: ‘Meet the Danes’ guided tour at the National Museum

20 April: Run around Kastellet

19 April: A guided tour of Christiansborg

6 April: Run around Frederiksberg Have

How internationals can benefit from joining trade unions

Internationals in Denmark rarely join a trade union

Novo Nordisk overtakes LEGO as the most desirable future workplace amongst university students

Want to advertise your job with CPH Post?

Global Supply Chain Advisor

Student Assistant – Internal Communication in Corporate Affairs

Senior Backend Software Engineer in Housing Journeys

Junior Support Engineer for Zenfit – Student (German)