The authorities and organisations in the asylum area
An asylum seeker in Denmark will often come into contact with a number of authorities and organisations. Here is an overview of the most important operators and the roles they play.
The Danish Immigration Service
The Danish Immigration Service is an authority under the Ministry of Refugee, Immigration and Integration Affairs. The Danish Immigration Service is the deciding authority in a number of areas within the Immigration laws. They decide, for instance, whether asylum can be granted, a visa can be issued or any other kind of residence permit can be given. Finally, it is the Immigration Service who decides which asylum centre the asylum seeker will stay in while his or her case is tried, and in which municipality the refugee will reside once he or she has been granted asylum.
The Refugee Appeals Board
The Refugee Appeals Board is a court-like independent appeals board. The chairperson of the Appeals Board is a judge. In addition to the judge, a representative from the Danish Bar and Law Society and one from the Ministry of Refugee, Immigration and Integration Affairs are present at every meeting. Normally, the asylum seeker and his or her lawyer are also present when the final decision is made on an application. This is not the case, however, when a case is treated in accordance with the manifestly unfounded procedure where the trying of the cases usually takes place in writing.
The Ministry of Refugee, Immigration and Integration Affairs
The Ministry of Refugee, Immigration and Integration Affairs has the overall responsibility for all matters relating to refugees and immigrants in Denmark. The ministry processes applications for humanitarian residence permits and also functions as complaints authority within a number of areas, for instance family reunifications or other types of residence permits.
The Danish National Police
The Danish National Police are responsible for clarifying the identity of an asylum seeker and determining his or her travel route upon their arrival in Denmark. The police are also responsible for the deportation to the country of origin in rejected cases. On the police’s homepage, www.politi.dk, an account and status on the police’s work with deportation of rejected asylum seekers can be found.
The Danish Refugee Council
The Danish Refugee Council is a private humanitarian organisation working independently of the authorities to help refugees and asylum seekers, and to ensure durable solutions to their problems, in Denmark as well as internationally. In the area of asylum the Danish Refugee Council helps refugees and asylum seekers with legal assistance, participates in the manifestly unfounded procedure and assists refugees in Denmark who wish to repatriate to their country of origin.
The Danish Red Cross
The Danish Red Cross is part of the International Red Cross, which helps people in need all over the world. The Danish Red Cross runs most of the asylum centres where asylum seekers are accommodated upon arrival in Denmark. The overall responsibility lies with the Immigration Service. The centres are spread all over Denmark, and it is here asylum seekers live while their cases are tried.
The municipalities
The municipalities are responsible for the integration of the refugees in each separate municipality in Denmark. They schedule the introduction programme and are responsible for assigning the refugees permanent living quarters. Furthermore, a few municipalities run asylum centres.
