INTRODUCTION

The exchange program of Denmark is arranged by Mr. Liban Abdi Abanur, the Coordinator of Somali Social Affairs in Denmark. The main goal of this program is to see how the Danish system effecting Somali refugees in Denmark and how they come to Denmark. After investigation of these critical situations of the Somali Refugees in the Asylum Centers in Denmark which the Somali Social Affairs group in Denmark realized that it is unfair comparing to the other nationalities in the country.

The Danish Immigration system says to the Somali Refugees that they can live in their country although the Somali refugees in Denmark seems that it is not humanity comparing to other three Scandinavian countries (Finland, Norway and Sweden).
The refugees say in confidently that they are isolated from the other nationalities in Denmark and they say we are not Hannibal but we are human being from horn of Africa where there is long running civil war. Somali Social Affairs compliments to the International Organizations and the respected group missions in Denmark of their talents or activities helping to Somali refugees wherever they are in the world.

We Somali refugees say (Where there is a will there is a way).

I thank to my Minister of Rehabilitation and Social Affairs, Prof. Mohammed Omar Dhalha and the Somali Refugees in the Camps who encouraged me to stand for investigating how the Somali refugees live in Denmark and what will be their consequence in Denmark since the Somali country is not stable.

GENERAL ASYLUM PROCEDURE IN DENMARK

An asylum seeker who enters Denmark, and applies for asylum, is called a “Spontaneous asylum seeker”.
When a spontaneous asylum seeker enters Denmark, he or she must contact to the police. It is the National Commissioner of Police to establish the nationality and identity of the asylum seeker. The Police will fingerprint and photograph the asylum seeker, as well as record an official statement from the applicant, including a statement on the route which he or she traveled to Denmark.
During the examination phase of an asylum case, the applicant is usually assigned to an accommodation centre. Accommodation centers are spread throughout Denmark; most of them are operated by the Danish Red Cross.

Examination of an asylum application
If the Danish Immigration Service determines that an asylum application is to be examined in Denmark, the Immigration Service itself will decide hereafter whether or not the applicant will be granted asylum. The asylum seeker must fill out an official application form for asylum, in which he or she can explain in more specific terms about the reason for their application for asylum. After that the Danish Immigration service will hold an interview with the applicant, assisted by an interpreter. During the course of the interview, the asylum seeker has the opportunity to further clarify why he or she is applying asylum in Denmark. Following the interview, the Danish Immigration Service will deliver a decision, based on an overall assessment of all the relevant information in each individual case. The Immigration Service will consider the statement provided by the asylum seeker, as well as information on conditions in the applicant’s country of origin. In most cases, the Immigration Service will be able to reach a decision based on these grounds alone. There may be instances where the Immigration Service requires additional information to reach a decision: if, for example, there is some doubt regarding conditions in a specific country.

Three procedures

Most cases are decided according to so-called normal procedure. This means that, if the asylum applicant is rejected, the case is referred to the Refugee Board, which will deliver a final decision in the case. A minority of cases are considered manifestly unfounded. This occurs when the Immigration Service assesses that the applicant clearly cannot be granted asylum in Denmark. These cases are sent to the Danish Refugee Council (NGO), which will deliver a pronouncement on the case. If the Danish Refugee Council agrees with the Immigration Service that the application is manifestly unfounded, the application will be rejected without contest. On the other hand, if the Danish Refugee Council disagrees, the Immigration Service will generally still reject the application, but will nevertheless refer the matter to the Refugee Board for a final decision. In certain cases, asylum applications are addressed according to an expedited version of the manifestly unfounded procedure. This is when the asylum seeker comes from acountry where, according to the most up-to-date information available to the Danish Immigration Service, it is unlikely that the applicant would risk persecution on return. In these cases, the asylum seeker does not fill out an official application form for asylum, and is quickly referred for an interview with the Danish Immigration Service. The Danish Refugee Council will then deliver a pronouncement on the case: if this is in accordance with the findings of the Immigration Service, the application will be rejected as soon as possible. These cases are decided within a few days.

When an asylum seeker is granted a residence permit
If an applicant is granted asylum, the Danish Immigration Service will decide where he or she is to live in Denmark.

When an asylum seeker is rejected
If an asylum applicant receives a final rejection, he or she must leave Denmark immediately, but will be granted adequate time to prepare for the departure from the country. Authorities will take into consideration if an applicant is suffering from an acute illness, is in an advanced stage of pregnancy, or has given birth shortly before the final decision. A final rejection means that an applicant does not have any more avenues available to appeal the decision. Rejections delivered by the Refugee Board or by the Immigration Service in so-called ‘manifestly unfounded’ cases are regarded as final. If a rejected asylum seeker will not leave Denmark voluntarily, it is the responsibility of the police to ensure the applicant’s departure.

Residence permit (for protection) on other grounds
The Ministry of Refugee, Immigration, and Integration Affairs has the authority to grant a temporary residence permit on humanitarian grounds to an asylum seeker who has received a rejection of his or her application for asylum. That said, very few permits of this type are ever actually granted.
UNACCOMPANIED CHILDREN
When children under 18 years of age come to Denmark and seek asylum without their parents, or other adults traveling in place of parents, these children are handled as ‘unaccompanied minor asylum seekers.’

What rules apply to unaccompanied children?
All children can seek asylum in Denmark, although the Danish Aliens Act includes no special rules for the treatment of asylum applications from children. Unaccompanied children must therefore fulfill the same conditions as other asylum seekers in order to obtain an eventual examination of their applications and subsequent grant of asylum. However, children are considered a particularly vulnerable group. Therefore, some special guidelines for the examination of their applications have been devised. According to these guidelines, asylum applications from children will be examined as quickly as possible, and child applicants will be housed in special accommodation centers with specially trained personnel.

Maturity plays a role
Unaccompanied children will only be permitted to go through an asylum case examination if they are mature enough to do so. If the Danish Immigration Service assesses that a child is not sufficiently mature, the child will be granted a residence permit without examination of his or her asylum application.

The child’s situation in the country of origin is taken into account

If a child’s application is examined, and the Immigration Service delivers a rejection, the child may, in certain cases, receive a residence permit anyway. This can happen, for example, if the child would have inordinate difficulty surviving in his or her country of origin due to the lack of an adequate support network in the form of family, other adults, public assistance, etc. Information on the child’s health and need for particular care or support will also be taken into consideration. Finally, the general situation in the child’s
country of origin, as for example, conditions of war, will be taken into account.

The child will be represented

Every unaccompanied child registered as an asylum seeker in Denmark after 1 April 2003 will be appointed a personal representative to preserve the child’s interests. The representative will offer support to the child during the asylum case examination: for example, by accompanying the child during the asylum interview. The representative will also support the child on a more personal level. Once the Danish Immigration Service has established that the applicant is an unaccompanied, underage individual, the Danish Immigration Service will ask the Danish Red Cross to recommend a representative to the local authority, which will formally appoint the representative. The representative will not be affiliated with immigration authorities, and can, for example, be a relative or other private citizen.

The child will receive an attorney If a child’s asylum case is decided according to the manifestly unfounded procedure, the
Danish Immigration Service will appoint an attorney to represent the child. Investigation of the child’s parents Following the child’s arrival to Denmark, the Danish Immigration Service will launch an investigation of the child’s parents. The investigation may occur in cooperation with the Danish Red Cross, or other similar organization appointed by the Minister for Refugee, Immigration and Integration Affairs. The investigation requires the explicit consent of the child or his/her personal representative.

Residence permit
If an unaccompanied child is granted a residence permit, the permit is initially limited to a period of 2 years and 10 months. When the residence permit expires, the child can seek an extension. In order to receive such an extension, the child must continue to fulfil the conditions for residence in Denmark.

FACTS AND FIGURES (FIGURES BROUGHT FROM THE EUROSTAT EUROPEAN COMMISSION HOMEPAGE)

Five main citizenships of Asylum applications from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden 1st quarter 2010 (rounded figures)

Denmark
Afghanistan 425
Syrian Arab Republic 260
Iran 120
Iraq 65
Russia 50
Other 295
Finland
Russia 160
Somalia 155
Iraq 135
Afghanistan 75
Serbia 45
Other 310
Norway
Eritrea 355
Afghanistan 295
Somalia 285
Russia 150
Stateless 135
Other 1,265

Sweden
Somalia 1,995
Serbia 1,485
Afghanistan 555
Iraq 515
Eritrea 350
Other 3,230

Source: Eurostat (migr asydcfstg)

YOUR WAY THROUGH THE DANISH ASYLUM SYSTEM

(Amount of time is only rough estimates and can vary!)

PROCEDURE OF ASYLUM APPLICATION

Submission of the asylum application
- Registrator with the police
- Possible transfer to the Reception Centre and the filling out of application forms.
- The Immigration Service decides on the basis of the police registration report to:

1. Rejection to a safe third country.
Denmark rejects processing the asylum
application and the asylum seeker must go back
and seek asylum in the country where he was
prior to arrival in Denmark.

2. The sending back/transference to another EU-country
Denmark shall not process the asylum application
and the asylum seeker
must travel to the EU-country which, according
to the Dublin Convention,
is responsible for processing the asylum
application

3. Denmark accepts to process the asylum application
- Possible filling out of the asylum application form, or translation of the already filled out
form.
- In depth interview with the Immigration Service
- The Immigration Service decides on the basis of the application and the interview on which
procedure the application shall be processed in:

A. Manifestly unfounded:
- The case is referred to the Danish
Refugee Council (DRC)
- The asylum seeker goes for an interview
with the DRC.
- The DRC may find that a case is not
manifestly unfounded. If so, the
applicant has the right to appeal.
- If the DRC agrees with the Immigration
Service’s evaluation (manifestly
unfounded) the Immigration Service
makes a decision in the case. The asylum
seeker in notified of the rejection for
asylum without the right to appeal to the
Refugee Board.

B. Normal procedure
- Asylum Positive
- Rejection Negative

Appeal
- Rejections are automatically considered to be under appeal to the Refugee Appeals Board
- Lawyer is appointed to represent the asylum seeker.
- Normally the asylum seeker is given the opportunity to attend the hearing of the case by the
Refugee Appeals Board.
- The Refugee Appeals Board reaches a decision: rejection or asylum

Rejection: Asylum:
- The rejection of the application for
asylum is final and the asylum seeker
must leave the country – Recognition of refugee status
- Residence permit
- Three year introduction programme

CATEGORIES OF ASYLUM RISIDENTS IN DENMARK

Phase 1: The time between arrival and the authorities accept and register their application for asylum. No activities for those in phase 1.
Phase 2: When the application is accepted and registered.
Phase 3: Rejected cases.

Allowances
The basic allowance is 47,50 DKK pr.day (maximum)
Additional allowance is 24,93 DKK pr.day (maximum)
(Additional allowance only paid if the resident participates in the activities specified in
the contract)

THE DIFINITION OF A REFUGEE

The UN refugee Convention defines a refugee as:
>>A person who is outside his or her country of nationality or habitual residence; has a well-founded fear of persecution because of his or her race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion; and is unable or unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of that country, or to return there, for fear of persecution<<

But to get asylum in Denmark you have to convince the authorities that you are in risk of concrete and individual persecution – It is not enough to belong to a persecuted group or come from a country at long running civil war, killing innocent people, ransacking, rapping and forcing to fight against Government. Then how can Somali Refugees in Denmark survive in this world since they are mankind like the others and need to live in this world till their lives end?

MOST IMPORTANT QUESTIONS OF DANISH IMMIGRATION SERVICE

The questions you will be asked by Udlændingeserive (Immigration Service) could be:
How did you leave your country – legally or illegally?
What will happen if you go back?
Who is after you?
Have you ever been arrested or put in jail – when and for how long?
Are you a member of a political group or party?
Did you ask the police for protection in your home country?
Where is your family now?
Why couldn’t you just move to another part of your country?
Why did you come to Denmark???

SOMALI REFUGEE ROUTE TO DENMARK

THE EXPERIENCES OF REFUGEES:
MALTREATMENT AND DENIAL OF ACCESS TO THEIR ROUTE. (SOMALIA)

Mogadishu became a place where there are militants, fundamentals chaos’s, anarchy and lots of turbulent where the innocent people flee the violence from place to another although sometimes they can’t reach a place which is too far from the battle zone because of lack financial or daily life. They start the word refugee from their country moving their own place to desert place where they start to built a wooden tent covered with old plastic bags and old cloches as a shuttle from the wind and the rain. Moreover, when the battle near to their shuttle then they move to another again and again, the lucky persons who can sell the small property he/she has in the country will compulsory sell and survive from the long running battle which has no end.

Somalia has 18 provinces which some of them (Bosaso) has stability and harbor near to the neighboring countries like Yemen where most of the Somali refugees immigrate to that place, the desperate person arrive in Bosaso he/she interrogates the people near to the harbor to get the direction of where he/she can get the boat to Yemen although there are a lot of smugglers who cheat the people and keep the refugees under the rocky cliffs for days till they collect the number of people they need to load to the boat. The smugglers patrol near the cliffs and bring new people every one hour; suddenly you ask yourself how many persons can take this small boat? The answer of the question will be that everyone will be forced to climb to the boat otherwise the desperate passenger will climb by beating with sticks like African animal rider plus they pay the money of the gamble of their life either DEATH or LIFE.

The boat is ready to leave and the passengers are overloaded to the boat, during in the sea the boat starts floating side by side then the smugglers decide who they will throw to the sea sometimes using guns shooting them the edge of the boat and then easily throwing to the sea, it is very narrow over sitting all the passengers, the body will be out of sensitive feeling nothing, some of the people vomit when the boat float a lot and the people beside the vomiting person will try to survive from the vomit but he/she will lose his/her life because of the movement they made in the boat, sometimes there will be a lot of waves in the sea which the smugglers have no experience about the huge waves but to survive their lives only they start reducing the passengers into the sea by throwing or killing.

At last, if the passengers are one of the 150 top list lucky gamblers in that moment they will reach a shore 400 meter to the sea and the smugglers will disembark the passengers they don’t care if you are a swimmer or immigrant.
The refugees start walking from the shore till the refugee camps which is too far from the shore without water, shoes and food the way is long and desert and the sun is too hot bothering the head, no trees where you can escape from the sun or rest for a while with shade of the trees, sometimes a group from some of the International Organizations bring biscuits named (Abu walad) and water with plastic jar which you feel when you are drinking the water that your life was deprived before and returned back to you again.

THE EXPERIENCES OF REFUGEES:
MALTREATMENT AND DENIAL OF ACCESS TO THEIR ROUTE. (YEMEN)

The Hidden Tragedy of Invincible Somali Refugee in Yemen

The long unpopular free-for-all door to door civil war in Somalia from 1991-2010 had created a disintegration, huge displacements and mass violations of human rights.

Nevertheless, the past 8 years, the second stage of self-expression sensibility and wealth of experience had gradually grown up from the soils of shared experiences. Until everybody thought that Somalia is destined to greatness! however, in the beginning of 2009, after the Islamists played “divide and rule tactics” to create new waves of indiscriminate attacks, of rockets, artillery, and mortar shells, as well as death threats, targeted killings, coerced recruitments and use of child soldiers were committed by both warring sides, heavier than former clan rivalries these new wars were suddenly shocked by the hopeful innocent Somali society.
To escape from the heavy fighting the alternative is a far distance fleeing such as Yemen According to UNHCR the number of people crossing the Gulf of Aden increased significantly in 2008, with more than 32,000 making the crossing by September.
The estimated number of drowned death during the crossing, including such when forced overboard or when vessels capsized was more than 1,000 in 2007 and nearly 400 by mid-2008.

Yemen is a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention and has traditionally adopted an open-door policy towards Somalis, granting them prima facie refugee status. It is estimated that 150,000 Somalis may currently be living in the country, in an unknown and unnoticed Invincible Camps located around the country.

The composition of destinations of the refugees also appears to be changing; they now include more self-made refugee hubs in an entire country. And significant increase to the invincible refugee camps as one of the new phenomenon that was raised to struggle silently against the precarious existence they had been living in the past 16 years.

In the beginning as early as 1999, those who opted to choose the preferred destination had been using routes other than the required by the Yemeni authorities and UNHCR.

The invincible camps are located in Sayioun of Hadramout Governorate, Zabadiyah of Bayda’ Governorate, Hassun Ala Jalal of Marin Governorate, and Qatabah and Sanah of Dala’ Governorate. these invincible are composed of different social groups; such as; extreme vulnerable with families, that escaped from major cities for their lack of ability to live the high rocketing prices of rents and sustenance, survivors that lost family members, or/and relatives in both the latest ideological skirmishes in Home or/and drowning deaths in Gulf of Aden, former military or/and police officers that defected after they were threatened by the armed groups or/and they were abandoned by their superiors after their stations were confiscated by the armed opposition As well as many others.

To deeply understand their reasons of invincibility and the reasons that these refugees self-started their own camps; for receiving support from the local tribesmen who give them a portion of land for only to live temporary.

Their houses are made from plastic bags, cartoons and easy sticks allowable to be used by the land-lords. Had sticks from hard and big trees are forbidden to be used by the refugees Equal to the Yemeni Akhdam groups they live independent life particularly the authority interventions; for example if somebody passes away, they burry their death without local authority’s knowledge.
”Before, we had been subjected to different procedures that interrogates everybody in the camp” Mr Abdulfatax said, adding that “now it’s easier for us to burry’ than to waste your day for useless interrogations”. However, the names of those deceased were not known to the chief as he doesn’t know how to read and write even Somali Language.

“maybe we can ask the closest relatives of the deceased” he answered lamenting, when asked “that kind of carelessness, could be trouble for their families” ”there are people who deliberately tell you false names; and refuse deep introduction throughout Somali traditional way that requires the fourth name, clan and sub-clan, village and, if he has well-known relative” therefore, they all agree to be buried without name” because they don’t know” he said.

The degree of self-imposed isolation is doubled after you realize that they don’t have any documents such as Refugee ID urban or camp. Somali national documents like ID or Passports, even they don’t know that there is Somali Community that is authorized to issue ID recognized by Yemeni government. Only their ID recognition is that they speak Fluent Southern Somali dialects.
Reasons of Justifications…………….

In the beginning and upon arrival the refugees are land-lifted to Al-kharez Camp located Bab-Al-Mandab straits. Its Ten hours long trek, mostly at night. In the camp the new arrivals flood to the camps each month, putting a further strain on the overstretched resources. Only a very few of the new arrivals have been provided with land to erect a shelter, and were given food to survive the rest which is the majority have been forced to stay with friends and family in the camp or/and outside camps.
In the morning they are given few kilograms of floor and one day use of cooking oil, and sugar.
Nothing is left to sprawl around, because the camp is located “No Man’s land” As if all their senseless experience of uprooting, large scale of violence, individual torture and traumatized past are not important events. Or As if the ordeal that followed them into the make-up shift settlements in Afgoye Mogadishu Road is not bad. Or As if the prosecution of long trek in hostile terrains invested by freelancer a bandit that kills tortures, rapes and detain is of lesser impression. And as if the risks of perilous journey to Yemen were very safe and sound.

Perhaps, As if these horror experience were not enough to reduce them to tears, there left alone in a remote no man’s land to opt their preferred choose of survival!. “I self talked to my soul and the soul of my wife that we must flee, right now that we are physically and healthy fit”. ”The child needs milk, and we need “Goosaar” some thing to make for a soup like vegetables, and sufficient cooking oil to eat with the floor” Mr Aweys Abdi a young boy said to me in his bush house “invincible camp” in Qa’tabah Dala’ Governorate, Yemen.

Like aweys, he left from Al-Kharez soon after his arrival and settled in Aden-Bassateen. Few years later Aweys transferred to Qatabah self-established camp. “My wife goes to begging and I go car washing every day” he said, adding that sometimes there are seasonal Menial jobs in Kat Farms. ”here is much better, because the camp is very hot, deserted, even if you want to supplement the little food to go towns and cities around for menial jobs the closest city requires more than 800 YR, which is the best days earning” Mr Aweys Said. Others say that there in Kharez you are a “refugee” something that looks like inhuman! But they said that here you are a voice, you are a man, and you are a human. “Yemenis would share with you their cup of tea”. Nevertheless, it’s their memory that ostracized them into unknown remote camps far from the eyes of “others”. That had been socialized in to their own family memories. In fact it’s another reason to worry, because they don’t coincide with the official norms of the allowed memory! The memory that there is only one Refugee Camp!

The problems that they face are more and long, mostly raised from their precarious living situation. They live areas that don’t have latrines, water supply, education, and health facility. also they complain about Fire, before six months a fire broke out quickly as a result of somebody’s error, one time the Cartoons, plastic bags, have attracted huge fire which engulfed all over their huts. Killing one person, and destroying their hardly collected properties that they have been building for years!
One of worst Episodes In the Invincible camps, were serious suicidal acts committed by four of the camp residents, three women and one man, they set as blaze on themselves and busted into flames, soon they passed away, also without names! Names to remember, and to recognize?!

Another reality that assisted the erection of these camps are The painful fates of family members missing as a result of inside invincibility or drowning deaths the harsh reality for the Somalis in Yemen . Mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, daughters, sons and their extended families are desperate to know the whereabouts or fate of their loved ones. Nobody is there to help them locate their beloved ones, thus pushing them external merciless world.

Their Missing persons might have been trapped, by the live of these invincible camps inside their country, (Somalia) or perhaps get killed in hostile terrains invested by unknown bandits, was buried in unmarked graves, or they may lay in a self-made camps in critical conditions or linger in a hidden place of self-detention, and fled to unknown country, they may be forced to live in a precarious situation that makes them invincible, to escape from many marginalization from both their community in the country of asylum or others. In the midst of survival war that left them mire around in Yemeni’s remote areas. Their life-detention centers Sometimes they are never reunited, so they hide from asking by a known member or relative or/and friends in a deep mental disorder that leads them to nowhere.

With Doubts and a Terrible Anguish

Another factor that complicates the search is the fact that families do not know where to ask. If there were taken to Mayfa’a Reception or Ahwar Reception Centers, and the bodies show the second day in far Ahwar, or somewhere else. The local fishing community takes their responsibility on their own hands and burry in a mass graves, because there is no centralized source of information on missing persons for drowning.
Families mostly work by speculation. This becomes even more complicated when families are contacted by anonymous individuals claiming to know the whereabouts of their missing relatives and asking for money in return for the information. Moreover, even if the family pays, the information might not be true.
Sharifo a mother with 5 kids had lost the eldest son aged 11, he was lost by his father, during disembarking, he was not given where the body of his son was buried. On other hand Miss Sharifa had visited twice after she heard that her son is a live with Somali resident in Mayfa’a. “They made me not to forget my son, always I see him in front of me”.
Others such as Farah Moalin Dhuho lost his son 7 in 12/2008 “we were 300 persons, the boat sunk 210 persons had been drowned, only 90 persons including me had been survived” Mr. Farah told me. And continued “I have never seen the body of my son, again. However, I have tried to cope the lose, but my wife never coped and she believed that her son is alive”.
this is a call to conscience and deathly break down of communication between the refugees and UNHCR” said by Elder Hersi Aman, a Somali refugee expert, “it reflects a culminations of years of neglect, abandonment and abuse of their forsaken rights” he added
they were conjured up by discernible reality of inter-related courses of issues that regulated, and determined for this destiny of invincibility, until they firmly developed a preconditioned mind of unshakable faith that this must be accepted as its.

THE EXPERIENCES OF REFUGEES:
MALTREATMENT AND DENIAL OF ACCESS TO THEIR ROUTE. (SYRIA)

I and seven other persons three Male, two Female and two children found smuggler who took us from Damuscas till Halab and from Halab till Afrin then before we reach to Afrin some soldiers dressed in informal soldier clothes closed the road with their car in horizontal parking, it was single narrow and curve road on the mountain, suddenly the driver saw the soldiers and told us that every person must run because they will kill us if they catch us, then he drove the car very fast towards them and then the armed men started firing us till he turned the car into the jungle which was descending mountain. The soldiers started firing us and wounded the mother of the two children sitting in the back of the car; everybody was scared and shocked at that moment nobody looked behind. Hence I ran as fast as I could for at least 6 hours in the jungle where I couldn’t know which direction I was going to, I felt on the ground with thirsty at last. I couldn’t walk, talk, and shout in order to be heard by someone, Moreover, if I try to cry I couldn’t at that moment because I became like paralyzed person. Fortunately, a farmer man who was in the farm that I felt on found me on the ground, I can see the farmer but I can’t talk to him for I have no voice to speak to him, the farmer took me to his home; fed me with water and some food. However, in the village I was the only black person who has rough closes with dust spots then someone from the village took me to the border near to turkey called “Antakya” where he confiscated any pence of money I had. We have been driving to a small path on the mountain where at last we reached another village which was close to the border of turkey. I found other people sitting on the ground where I felt happiness seeing them; they kept us in the farm without water, speech, eating, and movement. At last someone came to us and told us (it is the time of crossing the border) they ridded us like animals moving from place to another, they collected a lot of people in different places then at once they overloaded us a lorry which had two motorcycle support in the front and the back, they disembarked us in a jungle and suddenly I found the two other Somalis who were with me in the fired car and desperately asked me Are you a life?!! Then the smugglers heard started gesturing and fighting each other saying Liban belongs to me and the other smuggler says Liban belongs to me because you lost in jungle and I found him. The smugglers that I was at the first decided to kill me saying to the other smuggler (we can’t quarrel more I will kill him and that is all). We were already killed and our future will be killed in Denmark as well since some of the Somali refugees in Denmark were already sentenced to an open air Prison.

THE EXPERIENCES OF REFUGEES:
MALTREATMENT AND DENIAL OF ACCESS TO THEIR ROUTE. (GREECE

The Pot burns in two sides

We used one of those small inflatable dinghies. We had wrapped all our things in plastic bags. We left at about two in the morning. After six hours at sea we finally reached the Greek coast. We were discovered by the Greek coast guard about 300 meters away from the Island of Lesbos. It was a fast white boat; it circled our boat at high speed. The police threw us a rope and we were taken on board. We were tired, fully exhausted, and only wanted to sleep. We lay down on the floor.
The police shouted ›don’t sleep, sit up!‹ They kicked us. We were forced to sit up. Another boat was called. They were rough with us as they put us on the other boat. The police shouted at us: ›Malaka‹ and other swearwords which we couldn’t understand. We pleaded with them: ›we are humans, please help us‹. The little boat which had rescued us drove off. The men from the larger boat searched us. They were looking for our money. As they were searching us one of the policemen laughingly said, › I am a doctor.‹ He found 50 Euros on me, which he confiscated. The police threw the bread and water, and whatever else was left in our dinghy, into the water. The dinghy was put over our heads. The police boat drove us back into international waters. About two kilometers in front of the Turkish coast they threw the dinghy out. Then we were violently forced back onto it. They had made a small hole in the rubber dinghy and only gave us one oar. We paddled desperately to reach the coast, but we were so exhausted. We gave up just after an hour. We thought we were going to die, then. The water was very still. After a while we fell asleep. Then a big boat came and rescued us.

Beaten Up harshly!

We arrived here on the 1 May. We were taken first to a building belonging to the coast guard, then to the hospital and then back to the coast guard’s building, for identification. We were even beaten inside the building of the coast guard. They brought four men out and asked which one was the captain. I told them that none of them was captain. Then they were all beaten. I was hit here (he points to above his right eyebrow); the whole area was swollen. In the camp no one asked me where the injury came from, neither the police nor the doctor. I was in the camp for three months. It’s not great there, but I was satisfied because I had survived! We were so scared! When I arrived in Greece and the police beat me I thought that the police are the same in verywhere. They did not respect us as humans, I don’t know why. The police here are like in Africa, they know only violence, nothing else.‹ that really got to me. But in the meantime I have met many really good people here.

Torture during Interrogation

Everyone was sitting on the floor and seemed terrified. There was a boy a little apart from the group. His shirt was pulled over his head. His upper body was bent far forward. I found out later that the boy was 17 years old, and that during a search they had found a knife on him.

As soon as I got on the large boat, I was beaten. Several times they hit my head against the railings … I had to kneel down. One policeman stood behind me while two stood in front of me. The one behind me hit me with a stick on the head, deliberately and hard. He hit me on the crown of my head repeatedly with the stick. I tried to protect myself with my arms. Then he hit my arms. I tried to look behind me, and he started hitting me again. The two policemen in front of me were armed and showed me their weapons while I was being beaten. They looked at me very seriously. They said: ›We are going to kill you‹. The expression on their faces was terrifying. I was very scared. The other policeman – a fat one – came up to me and said into my ear: ›Tell the truth. These two policemen are very dangerous. They will kill you.‹ …
(…) Then they brought a plastic bucket full of water. I was kneeling the whole time. › Do you see the water? ‹ my arms were pressed together behind my back, held by one of the policemen. The other policeman put his hand on the nape of my neck and pushed my head down into the water; I couldn’t breathe anymore. I was only pulled up after some time. ›Do you now know the color and name of the boat? ‹I said ‘no’. He punched me twice in the face. The policeman behind me grabbed my arms again. I wanted to take a deep breath of air. The policeman in front of me asked ›do you remember now, or not? ‹ I said no again. He grabbed my head and pushed it into the water. I was absolutely terrified. I thought I would not survive. When I came up again the policeman again asked, ›so you don’t remember? ‹ I repeated that I did not. So then the policeman took a plastic bag and put it over my head. With one hand he tightened the bag around my neck. I couldn’t breathe anymore. They repeated the process of the plastic bag three times – every time they asked the same question. Then a policeman signaled with his hand: that’s enough.

FIRST DECISIONS BY OUTCOME OF DENMARK 1ST QUARTER 2010

First decisions by outcomes of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden 1st quarter 2010 (rounded figures)

Total decisions Total Positive decisions Refugee Status Subsidiary protection Humanitarian reasons Rejected
Denmark 650 240 110 110 25 410
Finland 1,340 485 45 410 35 855
Norway 4,450 1,205 525 430 250 3,245
Sweden 5,835 2,060 405 1,535 125 3,770

Source: Eurostat (migr asydcfstg)

LESSONS LEARNED AND EXPERIENCES GAINED FROM THE REFUGEES

Problem Statement:
In 1991 the world was shocked when civil war enfolded Somalia, the government collapsed and humanitarian tragedy of unprecedented scale unfolded. The impact of ‘state collapse’ on human development has been profound, involving mass loss of life, massive internal migrations, and flight aboard, the collapse of political institutions, the destruction of social and economic infrastructure and environmental damage. Somali experienced the indignities of statelessness in restriction on international travels, their marginalization in economic transactions and lack of national and international protection and security. Civil war has let to a questioning of a single Somali sovereignty and has revealed the heterogeneity of Somali society and culture. At the same time many Somalis in Diasporas have been investing substantially in their county through overseas remittances. At the start of new millennium, Somali was in a period of complex political, economic and social transition.
Therefore; this study tries to investigate why Somali family/ nuclear family/ and household migrate to EU particularly instability, pull of opportunity factors and their coping strategy.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

This research concerns with reasons behind Somali family move to EU and their coping mechanisms which are the mechanisms that help individual learn and manage both causes and the effect of stress.
A person’s ability to cope with stress depends on large extent on the degree of control of the individual thinks he/she has ever the stress producing events. And it is very important for the coping mechanism that individuals belief they have a power of what happens on their life. (A. Hiriwutz trwubm and S. Bordens Kenneth, 1995)
All forms of migration have an impact on the socio-cultural and political development of both the countries of destination and of origin. This impact should not be ignored but should be structured in a beneficial way. Migration changes both the immigrant themselves and the members of receiving society. For example, both expand their eating and drinking habits, modes of dressing, lifestyles, gender roles and knowledge concerning forms of education, religion and government (Dembowski Hans, 2004).
Although there are many factors that cause migration such as, economic e.g. unemployment; political e.g. civil war and insecurity; social e.g. lack of basic needs (peace, education, health); environment e.g. droughts and degradation of land (natural and man-made disaster) and so on, this research particularly concentrates on instability and lack of education causes and migrant’s coping strategies.

This research was simplified by: Liban Abdi Abanur, Coordinator of Somali Social Affairs in Denmark

Gulstavvej 7
5935 Bagenkop
Denmark

Related posts:

1. The Plight of Somali Refugees in the Arabian Peninsula
2. Countries must do more to resettle refugees, UN agency says
3. Tunisians arrested in Kenya suspected to be Somali Al-Shabab agents – police
4. Statement of Somali Orgnizations on the deployment of more foreign troops in Somalia
5. Ethiopian premier in talks with Somali president