Denmark, Norway eye Kabul center for minors denied asylum

COPENHAGEN/OSLO (Reuters) - Denmark and Norway are working on establishing a center in Kabul where unaccompanied Afghan minors who have been denied asylum can be sent back, the Danish and Norwegian governments said on Wednesday.

Asylum and immigration have been controversial political topics in the Nordics, as in other Western countries.

The European Union is discussing setting up centers outside of its borders for denied asylum seekers in regions such as Northern Africa.

In the United States, the Trump administration is facing a growing outcry over its practice of separating migrant children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border.

If the Danish-Norwegian plan goes ahead, unaccompanied Afghan minors who have been denied asylum would be forced to return to a center in Afghanistan’s capital.

“We don’t have a deal yet, but we have a good dialogue (with Afghan authorities),” Norwegian deputy justice minister Torkil Aamland told Reuters.

“We want to set up a safe, good center with real educational opportunities in line with U.N. children’s rights,” he said, adding that 16-, 17- and 18-year-olds would be returned to Afghanistan under the plan, but not those 15 years and younger.

The Danish immigration ministry declined to further comment aside from confirming the news, which was first reported by Denmark’s Politiken and Norway’s Aftenposten newspapers. - Read More

Denmark, Norway eye Kabul center for minors denied asylum

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