Individuals at Risk

Denmark is preparing to deport four Iraqi men convicted of criminal offenses to Iraq, where they will face torture, ill-treatment or death at the hands of any one of the dangerous armed groups roaming the country. All four men had become legal residents of Denmark. Danish authorities are also attempting to reach an agreement with Iraqi officials to deport another 364 rejected Iraqi asylum-seekers.

With 4.7 million people displaced in the years since the invasion of Iraq, the situation in Denmark highlights the international community's negligent response to the plight of these refugees.

"Governments have done little or nothing to help Iraqi refugees, failing in their moral, political and legal duty to share responsibility for them...Instead, apathy and rhetoric have been the overwhelming response to one of the worst refugee crises in the world," Amnesty International said in a recently released report on the plight of Iraqi refugees.

Traditionally, Denmark had been kinder to Iraqi refugees than many other countries. When Danish troops pulled out of Iraq in 2007, they brought with them 370 Iraqi interpreters, drivers and support staff that assisted their troops.

Unfortunately now Denmark has been struck with anti-immigration sentiment that has caused them to shift their policies. These policies, however, violate the various international treaties against sending asylum-seekers, refugees or rejected-asylum seekers back to countries where they would face a risk of human rights violations.

The "little or nothing" that Amnesty International is talking about in its recent report partly refers to the United States, which has allowed less than 5,000 Iraqis to enter the U.S. in the past five years. Those 5,000 are provided with about $400 a month for four months, plus $100 in food stamps, according to a recent article in The New York Times.

Approximately 2 million Iraqis now live as refugees in Jordan or Syria, where they are met with hostility and often live in hiding. Children of refugees rarely receive education and are often left on the streets to beg or are forced into child labor.

To take action to prevent the deportation of the four Iraqi men in Denmark, please take part in this Urgent Action.

Chelsea Toy - Urgent Action Network