Reykjavík Grapevine - júl. 2021, Blaðsíða 10

10 The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 07— 2021
Last spring, the Directorate of Immigra-
tion (ÚTL) made an executive decision
that would thrust the institution into
the spotlight of criticism that extended
from the general public and into the
halls of Parliament: evicting asylum
seekers from their housing, denying
them even their meager food stipends
(asylum seekers are not, by law, allowed
to work) and other services, because the
evictees refused to assist in their own
deportations to Greece.
While the decision would, by mid-
June, be ruled unlawful by the Immigra-
tion Appeals Board (KNÚ), the fallout
has prompted some to call for sweeping
reforms within ÚTL, if not the closure
of the office and the resignation of
Minister of Justice Áslaug Arna Sigur-
björnsdóttir. There also remains the
question of deportations to Greece, a
country which numerous international
bodies have repeatedly reported is
unsafe for asylum seekers—including
those granted protection in that coun-
try.
What it’s like to have
nothing
The Grapevine spoke with two asylum
seekers from Gaza who were evicted,
Ehsaan and Fahad. They told us that,
despite the ruling, they are not allowed
to return to the housing where they
were staying in Hafnarfjör!ur and
would instead be moved to more
remote housing at Ásbrú, near Keflavík.
The reason they were given, through
a translator at a meeting with other
evictees, was that they had lost their
services at the Hafnarfjör!ur housing—
the same services that KNÚ had deemed
unlawful to deny them in the first place.
“We tried to ask why we couldn't go
back to Hafnarfjör!ur and we were told
that services there have been stopped
because we got kicked out,” Fahad says.
“So I said there's a place at Grensás, why
can't we go there? They said that's for
families, that we need to go to Ásbrú,
and they gave us four tickets for Kefla-
vík. It was a translator speaking to us,
not a ÚTL employee, who wasn't even
in the room. The translator was going
in and out with our questions and kept
saying 'We don't have that information'
and 'I'm just a translator.' He was just
going in and out."
The two spoke very candidly about
the catch-22 that asylum seekers face
upon arrival in Greece.
"As soon as we landed, we were told
'You have two choices,’” Fahad explains.
“‘You either claim asylum here, or you
get sent back to Turkey.' We took the
asylum. We didn't know what else to do.
We got put in an isolated camp, fenced
in and surrounded by armed guards,
police or the military. It's exactly like a
prison."
Being granted “international protec-
tion” in Greece, they say, offers nothing
in terms of being able to have a normal
life.
"In most European countries, when
you get a residence permit, you get a
chance to learn the language, integrate
with society, learn about the culture—
we had none of that,” Ehsaan says. “We
were secluded all the time. Even after
we got the permit, we had no idea what
to do or where to go, we got no informa-
tion."
Fahad agrees, adding: "We both
tried to find jobs there, because we
were living in tents, but we were
subjected to a lot of people taking
advantage of us because of our condi-
tions. Sometimes we were paid in food
instead of money, that kind of thing,
because they know how desperate we
are. Sometimes we got nothing. They
know we can't do anything because no
one's going to help us. That's just how
it is in Greece."
Is this even legal?
The Grapevine spoke with Ragnhei!ur
Kristín Finnbogadóttir, a lawyer who
wrote her master’s thesis on Iceland’s
immigration policies, on whether
deporting people to Greece is even
legal by Iceland law—Article 42 on the
Law on Foreigners specifically states
“it is not permitted to send a foreigner
or a stateless person to an area where
he has reason to fear persecution” or
other inhumane treatment.
"In my opinion, deportations to
Greece are unlawful under Icelandic
law,” she says. “They're not obliged to
deport anyone, first of all. Second, you
shouldn't, if you know that the circum-
stances would provide for inhumane
treatment. They say 'this is all in accor-
dance [with] the law, nothing to see
here', but when you look deeper, it's
not. The Dublin Regulation [is] not an
obligation. You can always look further
into their circumstances."
Sema Erla Serdar, president of the
refugee and asylum seeker rights group
Solaris, agrees, saying that ÚTL could
stop deporting people to Greece at any
time.
"I would say that, in my opinion
and in my legal understanding, that of
course they can stop deportations to
Greece,” she says. “They can give the
people protection in Iceland. When they
say that they cannot, they're just not
telling the truth. The law gives them
the right to [grant them protection] and
you can interpret the law in ways that
let you stop these deportations. Besides
that, the Minister of Justice can always
send out a regulation that would stop
deportations, just like they stopped
deportations of people to Greece who
are in the asylum system...So just like
that, they can make this decision to
stop deportation to Greece [of] people
who have protection there already."
But do we need ÚTL?
As early as 2017, there have been calls
to close ÚTL in its current form, with
proposals ranging from changing the
existing institution from the ground up
to making sweeping reforms. In light
of the unlawful evictions and arguably
unlawful deportations to Greece, does
that argument still hold up?
“We don't need the Directorate of
Immigration and, in my opinion, ÚTL
should have been closed a long time
ago,” Sema Erla says. “We need to recon-
sider the whole system around foreign-
ers in general and refugees and asylum
seekers in particular. We should look at
it from scratch to see if we even need a
special ministry for matters concern-
ing foreigners. We need to reconsider
the whole system around it, make new
institutions if necessary, but for sure
ÚTL needs to be shut down—the sooner
the better. And we need a government
with a clear policy on refugee matters
with the aim of humanity and human
rights."
"I think we do need some institu-
tion that will handle applications
for asylum, citizenship and so on,”
Ragnhei!ur says. “What people are
criticising is not exactly the law itself.
The law is fine, in my opinion, it's the
practice that's wrong. They're really
extending their interpretations so that
it fits their needs, instead of using it
for the benefit of the applicant, which
is what they should be doing. These are
people who are running for their lives,
who have nobody to help them."
For their part, all Ehsaan and Fahad
want is the chance to live an ordinary
life, away from war and homelessness.
“We left Greece to have basic rights
and stability, food and shelter, the
things you need to have a normal life,”
Ehsaan says. “But it's not that differ-
ent from what we're experiencing here.
The majority of us are all fully quali-
fied. We have university degrees, some
of us have master’s degrees, so we're
not coming here to just take benefits
or expect other people to pay for us. We
just want a chance in life so we can start
using the skills we have, use the degrees
and have a normal life."
Sema Erla handing the petition to Minister of Jusice Áslaug Arna Sigurbjörnsdóttir
Refugees protest against being deported to Greece
Words:
Andie Sophia
Fontaine
Photos:
Andie Sophia
Fontaine
&
Vísir/Vilhelm
Cleanin! House:
ÚTL, Evictions and
Deportations to Greece
Immi!ration authorities draw criticism, a!ain
“We don't
need the
Directorate
of Immigra-
tion—in my
opinion, ÚTL
should have
been closed
a long time
ago.”