UN Condemns Denmark’s Decision to Deport Syrians

Migrants check a departure board at Copenhagen Central Station (File photo: Reuters)
Migrants check a departure board at Copenhagen Central Station (File photo: Reuters)
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UN Condemns Denmark’s Decision to Deport Syrians

Migrants check a departure board at Copenhagen Central Station (File photo: Reuters)
Migrants check a departure board at Copenhagen Central Station (File photo: Reuters)

The Danish authorities are being criticized for revoking the residence permits of dozens of Syrian refugees after declaring parts of Syria as a “safe place to send refugees back.”

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) expressed concern about Copenhagen’s decision despite the suspension of deportations, in light of the absence of communication between the Danish government and the Syrian regime.

UNHCR issued a communique Thursday, calling for maintaining the protection of migrants, saying the recent security improvements in parts of Syria are not sufficient, stable, or permanent to justify ending international protection for any group of refugees.

The organization demanded that Syrian refugees are not forcibly returned to any place in their country, regardless of who controls the area in question.

Since June 2020, Copenhagen has embarked on a large-scale process to review each of the cases of 461 Syrians from Damascus, saying the current situation in the city no longer justifies granting or extending their residence permit.

Last week, Aya Abu Daher, 19, appealed to the authorities to keep her in Denmark, especially that she’s a few months away from graduating from high school.

Activists reported on social media the case of Aya and many other refugees who are threatened to return to Syria.

Abu Daher's school principal urged the government to reverse its decision and allow her to continue her studies in Denmark, saying she is an exemplary student.

Last March, Denmark revoked the permits of 94 Syrians, out of 273 cases that were studied individually, according to the latest report of the Danish Immigration Services. Some of them have been placed in immigration detention.

Denmark aims for “zero asylum seekers” to see an end to asylum requests in the country. The policy encourages the voluntary return of Syrians and has only issued temporary residence permits since 2015.

Legally, permits are granted without time limits, in the event of an extremely dangerous situation in the country of origin, characterized by arbitrary violence and attacks on civilians.



Russian Missiles Hit a Ukrainian Army Training Ground, Killing at Least 3 Soldiers 

A view shows buildings damaged by Russian military strikes in the frontline town of Dobropillia, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine July 29, 2025. (Reuters) 
A view shows buildings damaged by Russian military strikes in the frontline town of Dobropillia, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine July 29, 2025. (Reuters) 
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Russian Missiles Hit a Ukrainian Army Training Ground, Killing at Least 3 Soldiers 

A view shows buildings damaged by Russian military strikes in the frontline town of Dobropillia, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine July 29, 2025. (Reuters) 
A view shows buildings damaged by Russian military strikes in the frontline town of Dobropillia, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine July 29, 2025. (Reuters) 

A Russian missile hit a Ukrainian army training ground, killing three soldiers and wounding 18 others, authorities said, in the latest attack to embarrass military officials as they struggle to make up a severe manpower shortage in the nearly 3½-year war.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that the strike killed or wounded about 200 Ukrainian troops. The ministry said that Ukraine’s 169th training center near Honcharivske in the Chernihiv region was hit with two Iskander missiles, one armed with multiple submunitions and another with high explosives.

Meanwhile, Russia continued its stepped-up aerial campaign against Ukrainian civilian targets, launching 78 attack drones overnight, including up to eight newly developed jet-powered drones, Ukraine’s air force said Wednesday. At least five people were wounded.

The UN mission in Ukraine says there has been a worsening trend in civilian casualties from Russian attacks this year, with 6,754 civilians killed or injured in the first half of 2025, representing a 54% increase from the same period in 2024.

Since Russia launched an all-out invasion of neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, at least 13,580 Ukrainian civilians, including 716 children, have been killed, according to the UN.

In an effort to stop that, US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he's giving Russian President Vladimir Putin until Aug. 8 for peace efforts to make progress or Washington will impose punitive sanctions and tariffs. Western leaders have accused Putin of dragging his feet in US-led peace efforts in an attempt to capture more Ukrainian land.

Ukrainian forces are mostly hanging on against a grinding summer push by Russia’s bigger army, though the Russian Defense Ministry has claimed some recent small advances at places along the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line.

Ukrainian ground forces acknowledged that a Russian strike hit a military training ground in the Chernihiv region of northern Ukraine, but its casualty report differed widely from one issued by Moscow.

A Russian Defense Ministry video showed multiple small explosions apparently caused by a missile with a shrapnel warhead followed by one big blast, apparently from the other one armed with a high-explosive warhead.

A similar Russian strike occurred last September, when two ballistic missiles blasted a Ukrainian military academy and nearby hospital, killing more than 50 people and wounding more than 200 others.

Ukrainian authorities said that a commission led by the head of the Military Law Enforcement Service has been formed to determine whether negligence or misconduct by officials contributed to the casualties in Chernihiv.

The attack was the fourth deadly strike in as five months on Ukrainian military facilities. The three previous strikes killed at least 46 soldiers and wounded more than 160, according to official reports.

Ukraine can ill afford to lose more troops. Though it has more than 1 million Ukrainians in uniform, including the National Guard and other units, it badly needs more.

Deeply rooted problems have bedeviled Ukraine and brought questions about how Kyiv is managing the war, from a flawed mobilization drive to the overstretching and hollowing out of front-line units through soldiers going AWOL.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a bill Tuesday that allows Ukrainian men over the age of 60 to voluntarily sign contracts with the armed forces. The new law allows those who want to contribute their experience and skills, particularly in noncombat or specialized roles.

In February, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry began offering new financial and other benefits that it hopes will attract men between the ages of 18 and 24 to military service. Men in that age group are exempt from the country’s draft, which covers men between 25 and 60 years old.

Ukraine lowered its conscription age from 27 to 25, but that has failed to replenish ranks or replace battlefield losses.