The UN’s refugee agency has condemned the government’s decision to forcibly repatriate failed asylum seekers back to central Iraq

The UN refugee agency UNHCR has sent a strongly worded criticism to the Danish authorities recommending that the majority of the failed Iraqi asylum seekers should not be forcibly repatriated to their homeland.

In the letter, seen by Kristeligt Dagblad newspaper, the UNHCR said that Denmark should not return 161 of the asylum seekers back to central Iraq because the area’s safety has not been confirmed.

‘Unless they return back voluntarily, none of the Iraqis from the five central provinces…should be sent back to Iraq forcibly, before there is a meaningful progress in both security and the human rights situation in the country,’ said the UNHCR in the 28 May letter.

The organisation also criticised the Iraqi government’s promise of safety for the asylum seekers on their return. In the repatriation agreement, the Iraqi authorities promised that all returning Iraqis could come home without fear of harassment, intimidation or other sanctions.

However, the UN body believes the Iraqi government still ‘lacks capacity to guarantee that the Iraqis security needs will be met’ and raised questions about ‘the Iraqi government’s ability to fulfil its promise’.

The UNHCR has recommended that the repatriation agreement should be changed to prevent the forced return of Iraqis to central Iraq.

There are currently 282 failed asylum seekers affected by the agreement, including 23 children. More than 50 of the Iraqis have sought refuge in Brorsons Church in the Nørrebro district of Copenhagen, where they have been living for the last 22 days to highlight their case.

The immigration minister, Birth Rønn Hornbech, responded to the criticism saying that she would not intervene in the task of the Refugee Appeals Board, which rejected the appeals of the failed asylum seekers.