For Afghans fleeing Taliban rule, experience of Syrian refugees in Scandinavia is a cautionary tale

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Displaced Syrians arrive to Deir al-Ballut camp in Afrin's countryside, along the border with Turkey, on February 19, 2020. (AFP file photo)
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Updated 19 October 2021
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For Afghans fleeing Taliban rule, experience of Syrian refugees in Scandinavia is a cautionary tale

  • Scandinavia opened its arms to Syrian refugees in 2015, but attitudes have since hardened
  • The waves of people fleeing Afghanistan have brought the issue of European asylum policy to the fore

STOCKHOLM: Of the millions of Syrians displaced by civil war since 2011, a significant minority has managed to reach Europe, escaping not only violence and persecution but also forced army conscription and poverty.

Even in the initial phase of the arrival of the wave of humanity, many European countries closed their borders. But along with Germany, the Scandinavian countries of Sweden, Norway and Denmark were among the most welcoming.

In September 2014, images of the drowned toddler Alan Kurdi lying face down in the Mediterranean surf near Bodrum in Turkey drove home the terrible truth about the Syrian civil war.




A graffiti by artists Justus Becker and Oguz Sen depicts the drowned Syrian refugee boy Alan Kurdi at the harbor in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, on March 10, 2016. (AFP) 

That same month, the Swedish Migration Authority announced that all Syrian refugees applying for asylum would be granted permanent residency on arrival.

“Our assessment is that the conflict will not end in the near future,” Anders Danielsson, the agency’s director general, told national radio at the time. “Therefore, international law dictates that they should receive permanent residency permits.”

Following the announcement, the number of Syrians applying for asylum in Sweden rose from 30,000 in 2014 to 51,000 in 2015, according to government figures. Neighboring Denmark also saw an increase during 2015, processing about 21,000 asylum applications.

But six years on, the pendulum of public opinion has swung far in the opposite direction.




Along with Germany, the Scandinavian countries of Sweden, Norway and Denmark were among the most welcoming to Syrian refugees. (AFP file photo)

“Denmark went first down the nationalist-populist road, followed by Norway,” Swedish socialist MP Ali Esbati told Arab News.

Esbati fears his own country is beginning to follow suit. “This is due in part to many people in Sweden feeling that we did what we could in 2015 and took the responsibility that a rich country should take, while other countries did not.”

Indeed, as the situation in Afghanistan again brings the issue of European asylum policy to the fore, the political mood in Sweden is a far cry from the receptiveness of 2015.

“We will never go back to 2015. Sweden will not find itself in that situation again,” Stefan Lofven, Sweden’s prime minister, told the national daily Dagens Nyheter on Aug. 18, three days after the Taliban seized Kabul.




Afghans gather on a roadside near Kabul airport on August 20, 2021, hoping to flee from the country after the Taliban's military takeover of Afghanistan. (AFP)

Esbati said that what upsets him most about the comments is the lack of acknowledgement of Sweden’s success in welcoming and integrating Syrians.

Among those who fled to Scandinavia in 2015 was Abdulla Miri. Desperate to avoid conscription into the Syrian regime’s armed forces, Miri chose to flee to Europe, promising his fiancee Nour he would get her out, too.




Refugee Abdulla Miri

“I’d paid so many bribes that my money was running out,” he said, speaking to Arab News at his home in Stockholm.


Read the second part of the report: Scandinavia’s cold shoulder


Miri recalls an incident soon after his arrival in Denmark en route to Sweden when he noticed two police officers watching him. “This was before I started to dress like a Scandinavian, so it was pretty obvious to them that I was a refugee,” he said.

“I thought I was in trouble, but the police officers helped me buy a ticket to Sweden. They knew that almost all the refugees wanted to cross the bridge to Sweden, so the three of us just laughed about the situation.”

Nine months later, Sweden granted Miri political asylum.

The Syrian refugee crisis began in March 2011 after a brutal regime crackdown on protests in support of a group of teenagers who were rounded up over the appearance of anti-government graffiti in the southern town of Daraa.

The arrests sparked public demonstrations throughout Syria, which were violently suppressed by security forces. The conflict quickly escalated and the country descended into a civil war that forced millions of Syrians from their homes.

Syrian refugees have sought asylum in more than 130 countries, but most live in neighboring states: Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt. Turkey has the largest share of the refugee population, today sheltering around 3.6 million people.

European countries collectively host around a million Syrian refugees, with 70 percent hosted by just two countries: Germany with 59 percent and Sweden with 11 percent. Austria, Greece, the Netherlands and France host between 2 and 5 percent, while other countries host below 2 percent.

Most refugees from Middle Eastern and African states reach Europe by trekking overland from Turkey via Bulgaria and Romania, or by crossing the Mediterranean on rickety boats operated by people traffickers.

At least 1,146 people died attempting to reach Europe by sea in the first six months of 2021, according to the International Organization for Migration — more than double the number during the same period in 2020, when 513 migrants are known to have drowned.

Those who survive the perilous journey get a mixed reception. Many trying to reach the UK, for instance, tend to find themselves stranded at the French port of Calais in squalid makeshift camps. For the most part, those who choose to settle in Germany or the Nordic states are afforded international protection status.

INNUMBERS

6.6 million Syrian refugees worldwide, of whom 5.6 million are hosted by neighboring countries.

1,146 Asylum-seekers who drowned attempting to reach Europe in the first 6 months of 2021.

Since the onset of the Syrian crisis in 2011, well over a million international protection decisions on applications by Syrians have been taken by asylum authorities in EU+ countries, according to UNHCR.

However, economic problems, a spate of Islamist terrorist attacks, and a sense that migrant communities have failed to fully integrate have led to a rise in right-wing populism in many European states, causing the welcoming spirit exhibited in 2015 to ebb away.

Nawal Abdo Hadid, a 62-year-old Syrian who lives in the quiet Copenhagen suburb of Gentofte, has been told her residency permit will not be renewed because the Danish authorities consider the situation in Syria no longer dangerous.




Nawal Abdo Hadid

“When I got the letter, I had a heart attack,” Hadid told Arab News. In addition to her heart problems, Hadid suffers from asthma, which makes it difficult to climb the three flights of stairs up to her one-room apartment. Her home is sparsely decorated, giving the impression of a life spent in perpetual limbo.

Hadid believes her return to Syria could be a death sentence because of her posts on social media that are critical of the government. A neighbor whom she accused of being a pro-Assad “criminal” has threatened Hadid and her son, who still lives in Syria with his six children.

“I haven’t seen my grandchildren for more than six years,” she said. “I’d rather die alone in Denmark than go back to Syria and put my son’s family at risk.”

Miri’s situation could not be more different. On receiving his Swedish citizenship in July 2017 after five years in the country, he flew to Beirut to marry Nour and then brought her home with him to Stockholm.

Although Sweden suffers from a shortage of affordable housing, the couple have been fortunate. A widower rented them the ground floor of his home in an affluent Stockholm suburb.

“Having him in our lives is a blessing,” Nour told Arab News. “I can always ask him for help and he is something of a father figure for us.”




Nawal Abdo Hadid's home in Sweden. (Supplied)

Nour, who studied English literature in Damascus and who loves the poet Lord Byron, has already begun to discover Swedish authors.

“Everything I don’t remember,” by the celebrated writer Jonas Hassen Khemiri, himself the son of a Tunisian immigrant, has left a distinct impression. “He understands what moving between countries does to the soul,” Nour said.

Miri, who now uses his Swedish nickname “Abbe,” speaks flawless Swedish. Nour’s Swedish has a barely detectable Arabic accent although she struggles at times to find the right words.

Every year, on June 6, Miri hosts a Swedish National Day party for their friends. Native Swedes do not usually bother with the holiday, so the gatherings are something of a novelty.

“My Swedish friends don’t even call it National Day any longer,” he said. “They call it Abbe’s Day instead.”

Miri’s journey will be difficult for future asylum-seekers to mimic. On June 23, the Swedish parliament approved a new immigration bill that makes temporary residency permits the norm, just like the Danish system.

“We need an entirely new political (framework) in order for people to be included in society and to settle in,” Maria Malmer Stenergard, an immigration policy spokesperson for the conservative Moderate Party, recently told national radio.

“We have to start by decreasing immigration.”

Still, hope springs eternal. On the windowsill of Miri and Nour’s home sits a pile of books on pregnancy and parenthood. They arrived as a gift from a Swedish neighbor when she learned the couple were expecting their first child.

____________________

This is the first of a two-part series. Next: What Afghan asylum-seekers can expect.


US hit by first extreme heat wave of the year

A bird bathes in a water fountain in Manhattan on June 23, 2025, in New York City. (AFP)
Updated 24 June 2025
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US hit by first extreme heat wave of the year

  • Heat records tumbled across parts of the US Northeast, including in Central Park, known as the lungs of Manhattan, where Monday’s temperature of 96 degrees broke a record that had stood since 1888, according to the National Weather Service

NEW YORK: A potentially life-threatening heat wave enveloped the eastern third of the United States on Monday impacting nearly 160 million people, with temperatures expected to climb to 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) in the New York metropolitan area.
The country’s first significant scorching heat of the year arrived over the weekend and peaks Monday and Tuesday in Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York City.
“This extreme heat will not just be uncomfortable and oppressive for New Yorkers,” warned Mayor Eric Adams, adding that each year heat claims the lives of 500 people in this city of eight million.
“It’s going to be brutal and dangerous if you do not treat it with the understanding that we want you to,” he added.
As sweltering heat enveloped the city, authorities urged seniors, people with health problems and those without air conditioning to stay hydrated and seek help at designated cooling centers such as libraries and recreation facilities.
Heat records tumbled across parts of the US Northeast, including in Central Park, known as the lungs of Manhattan, where Monday’s temperature of 96 degrees broke a record that had stood since 1888, according to the National Weather Service.
“Extreme Heat Warnings and Heat Adviseries across much of the eastern third of the country (are) affecting nearly 160 million people” across at least 29 states, the NWS reported.
“This level of HeatRisk is known for being rare and/or long duration with little to no overnight relief, and affects anyone without effective cooling and/or adequate hydration,” the agency warned.
Meteorologists are describing the intensifying weather pattern as a heat dome, a high-pressure system that traps air and leads to steadily rising thermal readings.
For many in the Big Apple, avoiding work in the searing heat was not an option.
“We have to endure it, because otherwise what are we going to survive on?” Manuel, a manual worker repairing a building facade in New York’s Harlem neighborhood, told AFP.
“Sometimes we stop because it’s a danger. We don’t all have the same energy, but you have to endure,” he added.
In the Washington Heights neighborhood, authorities opened several fire hydrants so residents could seek relief with the gushing water.
One of the local heroes was Ronald Marcelin, a 44-year-old air conditioning technician sweating profusely as he repaired a pizzeria’s AC unit.
“I’m taking the heat so that everyone else can cool down,” Marcelin said with a grin.

The soaring temperatures come just as New Yorkers head to the polls Tuesday for the Democratic primary that will decide the party’s mayoral candidate. This promises to be a tight race between Andrew Cuomo, who is seeking political resurrection after resigning in disgrace as state governor in 2021, and rising left-wing star Zohran Mamdami.
Over the weekend, Cuomo urged residents to cast their votes even if the temperatures hit 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
In Washington, the heat index — what the temperature feels like with humidity factored in — was forecast to soar to as high as 110 F on Monday, and the mayor’s office urged residents to take advantage of cooling centers.
Scientists say extreme heat waves are a clear sign of global warming, and they are expected to become more frequent, longer, and more intense.
Fueled by human-caused climate change, 2024 was the warmest year on record globally — and 2025 is projected to rank among the top three.

 


EU will not yield decision-making right in US tariff talks, says von der Leyen

Updated 23 June 2025
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EU will not yield decision-making right in US tariff talks, says von der Leyen

  • Her comments come amid speculation that Washington may be pressing Brussels into delaying the implementation of laws such as those on deforestation and online platforms or providing exemptions to US companies

BRUSSELS: The European Union will not give up its right to make policy decisions in negotiations with the United States to avert higher US tariffs on EU goods, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday.
“Of course, we discuss tariff lines, we discuss non-tariff barriers, like standards and norms. For example, we discuss strategic purchases, we discuss all these topics,” von der Leyen told a news conference after an EU-Canada summit.
“But where it is the sovereign decision-making process in the European Union and its member states that is affected, this is too far,” she continued, adding this was an “untouchable.”
Her comments come amid speculation that Washington may be pressing Brussels into delaying the implementation of laws such as those on deforestation and online platforms or providing exemptions to US companies.

 


Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte seeks dismissal of impeachment case

Updated 23 June 2025
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Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte seeks dismissal of impeachment case

  • The House of Representatives impeached Duterte in early February on charges of graft, corruption and an alleged assassination plot against one-time ally and former running mate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr

MANILA: Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte responded Monday to her Senate impeachment trial summons, demanding the case against her be dropped.

The House of Representatives impeached Duterte in early February on charges of graft, corruption and an alleged assassination plot against one-time ally and former running mate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

A guilty verdict in the Senate would result in her removal from office and permanent disqualification from politics.

A copy of Duterte’s reply to the summons delivered by messenger to House prosecutors on Monday afternoon called the complaint against her an abuse of the impeachment process.

“There are no statements of ultimate facts in the (impeachment complaint). Stripped of its ‘factual’ and legal conclusions, it is nothing more than a scrap of paper,” the response read.

It goes on to deny the allegations made against her as “false” and state that the Senate’s decision to remand the case to the House earlier this month removed her responsibility to answer them.

Duterte is currently on a trip to Australia where she is meeting with Filipino supporters.

Her summons was issued on June 10 after an hours-long Senate session that saw lawmakers convene as an impeachment court only to send the case back to the House, a decision one lawmaker called a “functional dismissal.”


Bangladesh detains Hasina era ex-election chief

Updated 23 June 2025
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Bangladesh detains Hasina era ex-election chief

  • KM Nurul Huda is accused of rigging past polls in favor of former leader

DHAKA: A Bangladesh court on Monday remanded in custody the former elections chief for his alleged role in rigging the vote in favor of now-ousted autocrat Sheikh Hasina.

KM Nurul Huda, 77, was ordered to be detained for four days while questioning continues, a day after a mob who smashed into his home and assaulted him eventually handed him to the police.

On Sunday, the powerful Bangladesh Nationalist Party filed a case against Huda and other former election commissioners it accuses of rigging past polls in favor of Hasina, whose 15 years in power ended in an mass uprising in August 2024.

Interim leader Mohammed Yunus has said elections will be held in early April 2026 — the first in the South Asian nation of around 170 million people since the student-led revolt ousted Hasina.

Police put a helmet on Huda while taking him to the court for protection.

Yunus’s government warned last month that political power struggles risked jeopardizing gains that have been made, saying that holding elections by mid-2026 would give them time to overhaul democratic institutions.

Hasina’s rule saw widespread human rights abuses and her government was accused of politicizing courts and the civil service, as well as staging lopsided elections.

Hasina, 77, remains in self-imposed exile in India, where she fled after she was ousted last year.

She has defied orders to return to Dhaka to face charges amounting to crimes against humanity. Her trial in absentia continues.


UK and Ukraine agree to deepen ties as Zelensky meets Starmer

Updated 23 June 2025
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UK and Ukraine agree to deepen ties as Zelensky meets Starmer

  • Zelensky met with Starmer at his Downing Street home, after earlier visiting King Charles III at Windsor Castle
  • The trip comes on the eve of a NATO summit in The Hague, which Zelensky is due to attend

LONDON: Seeking to shore up support more than three years into Russia’s invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer during a surprise visit to London on Monday, cementing a military co-production deal.
Zelensky met with Starmer at his Downing Street home, after earlier visiting King Charles III at Windsor Castle.
The trip comes on the eve of a NATO summit in The Hague, which Zelensky is due to attend.
Addressing Ukrainian military personnel undergoing training in the UK, Starmer said the pair had had “an excellent bilateral meeting” and agreed on an “industrial military co-production agreement,” which he called “a massive step forward in the contribution that we can continue to make.”
Zelensky, speaking beside Starmer, insisted the deal “will be very strong and will transform both nations,” although no details were released.
After the meeting, Starmer said it was “really a privilege, a pleasure” to welcome Zelensky, calling him “a regular now at Downing Street.”
Starmer told the Ukrainian troops it was “really humbling” to see their “level of professionalism, commitment and bravery.”
More than 50,000 troops have now been trained as part of the international partnership.
Zelensky said the scheme had helped “strengthen our army” and enabled Ukraine to “survive and fight.”
The UK has been one of Ukraine’s staunchest supporters since Russia invaded in early 2022, levelling rounds of sanctions against Moscow and supplying multiple packages of military aid.
Starmer promised the support would continue “for the rest of the conflict” and help put Ukraine in “the strongest possible position” to negotiate a ceasefire.
Zelensky said his country was “very thankful to the UK... for such big support of Ukraine from the very beginning of this war.”
The Ukrainian leader earlier traveled to Windsor Castle, where he “visited The King... and remained to luncheon,” Buckingham Palace said.
Zelensky is expected at the NATO summit in The Hague on Tuesday and Wednesday, where Ukraine’s allies will work “to ensure that Ukraine is in the best possible position as we go into the next stage of this conflict,” according to Starmer.
NATO allies are poised to take a “quantum leap” by hiking defense spending to counter the threat of Russia, Secretary General Mark Rutte said on the eve of the two-day summit.
The alliance’s 32 members will pledge to boost defense expenditure to five percent of gross domestic product, a key demand of President Donald Trump, who has long grumbled that the US pays too much for NATO.
NATO’s members have thrashed out a compromise deal to dedicate at least 3.5 percent of GDP to core military needs by 2035, and 1.5 percent to broader security-related items like cyber-security and infrastructure.
“The defense investment plan that allies will agree in The Hague introduces a new baseline, five percent of GDP to be invested in defense,” Rutte told reporters at a pre-summit news conference.
“This is a quantum leap that is ambitious, historic and fundamental to securing our future.”