Controversy after Danish police seize Iraqis in church (2nd Roundup)

Aug 13, 2009, 18:32 GMT

Copenhagen - Protests were staged in Danish cities Thursday evening after police forced their way into a church and detained 19 Iraqis who had sought refuge there after their asylum applications had been turned down.

In Copenhagen some 12,000 people were estimated to have joined in the protest.

Pastor Per Ramsland, whose Brorson church in the Copenhagen suburb of Norrebro has hosted 60 Iraqis since May, said he 'never dreamed that something like this could happen,' adding it violated Danish traditions of church sanctuary.

Justice Minister Brian Mikkelsen, however, defended the police and said in a statement 'the law must be respected' and 'one should not count on special treatment even if one occupies a church.'

Copenhagen bishop Norman Svendsen said he regretted the events and has asked for information about the overnight raid in which 50 police officers took part.

Lutheran pastors that belong to a pro-asylum network also voiced concern as did human rights groups ranging from Amnesty International to the Danish Red Cross.

Danish politicians, including former prime minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, also voiced criticism. However, other members of Rasmussen's opposition Social Democrats said they supported the principle of repatriation of refugees.

Denmark and Iraq in May signed an agreement over the repatriation of some 240 Iraqis.

In a related development, police said that seven other Iraqis who had not been in the church were repatriated to Iraq on Thursday.

Early Thursday, scores of protesters gathered outside the church and some clashed with police during attempts to stop a bus transporting the young Iraqi men. Five protesters were briefly arrested.

At the time of the overnight raid, some 30 Iraqis were reported to be in the Brorson church. Police did not detain women, children or elderly who have left the church and sought help from friends.

Birthe Ronn Hornbech, minister for refugee, immigration and integration affairs, earlier defended the police action and in an interview with TV2 News said she did not understand how Ramsland and the church council could allow the asylum seekers to use the church.

The repatriation agreement has been criticized since some of the affected individuals and families have been in Denmark for up to 10 years.

Human rights organizations, the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR and numerous Danish civil society groups have asked the government to allow them to stay on a humanitarian basis, citing Iraq's precarious security situation.