532 asylum seekers left Denmark voluntarily in 2016, that is, almost twice as many as in 2015, Copenhagen’s Posten reported on Thursday.
21,300 asylum seekers arrived in Denmark in 2015, but merely 6,200 in 2016.
75% of those leaving Denmark do so before their asylum application is processed. Most asylum-seekers who returned home were from Iran (37%), followed by Iraqis (13%), Russians (11%), Afghanis (9%), Ukrainians (8%) and “others” (22%).
According to a repatriation programme officer with the International Organization for Migration in Copenhagen, Jacob Jørgensen, most asylum-seekers leave because they find Denmark is not the place advertised by human traffickers.
Others, do not believe their asylum application will be successful and move to take advantage of programmes that provide them with a small amount of money upon voluntary repatriation. “Better to return home than to rot away in an asylum centre,” Jørgensen argues.
SOURCE: NewEurope
