Up to 300 failed Iraqi asylum seekers face deportation due to a new agreement with the Iraqi government

The government has signed an agreement with the Iraqi government that will allow asylum seekers whose applications have been denied to be deported back to Iraq.

Many of the asylum seekers have lived in Denmark for years after their application was rejected, but could not return home because the Iraqi government was unable to guarantee their safety.

However, Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen announced in Brussels yesterday that a deal had been reached with the Iraqi government, similar to the one already in place between Sweden and Iraq.

‘We have fought long and hard to secure this agreement and I’m pleased it’s in place. It is important for the sake of the legitimacy of our entire asylum system,’ said Rasmussen.

The prime minister said that the deal effectively meant that authorities could now forcibly send failed asylum seekers back to Iraq, calling it a positive move.

Around 300 failed asylum applicants from Iraq will be affected by the deal. In the last two years, eight Iraqis have been forcibly deported on the grounds of criminality.

The majority of the failed asylum seekers have been living in Sandholm and Avnstrup asylum centres since their arrival. In some individual cases, they have been living at the Red Cross-run centres for 12 years.

Worried Iraqis protested at the Sandholm Asylum Centre in northern Zealand this morning, concerned at the prospect of being sent back to a country, which they say is still not safe.

Jørgen Chemnitz, head of the Sandholm centre, told The Copenhagen Post that there has been mixed reaction from the residents to the news.

‘Some were crying and in shock, and most still aren’t sure what’s happening,’ said Chemnitz. The Red Cross official said that they had not been provided with concrete information regarding the deportations and hoped the authorities would take every possible humanitarian issue into account.

‘There are families whose kids were born here and those who have suffered illness in the family. They are worried because not every area in Iraq has been made safer,’ Chemnitz said.