Court confirms ruling on Danish children in refugee camps

Denmark’s Eastern High Court confirmed a ruling that the Foreign Ministry’s offer to evacuate a seven-year-old Danish boy from the al-Roj Syrian camp without his non-Danish mother is sufficient. The mother lost her Danish citizenship in October 2020 after joining the Syrian conflict in 2014, retaining her Somali citizenship. A lawsuit from the organisation Repatriate The Children Denmark argued children should be evacuated with their mothers. In December 2022, the Copenhagen City Court acquitted the state, and the verdict was appealed. While one woman and her two children were evacuated in June following a policy reversal. The ruling affects the remaining woman and her child. The High Court found no violation of conventions or laws that mandate mother-child joint evacuation. Denmark has previously evacuated three mothers and 14 children in 2021.