PRITI Patel’s desire to seek an agreement with Denmark to send asylum seekers offshore for processing has come back into focus today as a Syrian refugee told how he had been attacked while living in the country which has one of the world’s highest standards of living.

Danish politicians passed legislation last month, proposed by the Social Democrat-led government, allowing them to send asylum seekers to third countries, such as Rwanda, for processing.

The European Commission expressed its concern about the law and the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) said the move was irresponsible: “The idea to externalise the responsibility of processing asylum seekers’ claims is both irresponsible and lacking in solidarity.

“We have repeatedly called on the Danish members of parliament to reject this bill.”

But the UK Home Secretary is already involved in talks with Danish officials to share the Rwanda proposal.

The Syrian refugee who spoke to the Sunday National on the condition of anonymity, is a journalist and had faced attacks, torture and detention in his home country under the regime of Bashar al-Assad, its president.

He has been in Scotland for two years and is seeking asylum here, but his experience in Denmark was equally traumatic.

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The 33-year-old, who we have called Abbud, said that during the uprising in his home country he was studying in the capital Damascus, and was detained after his student political activities attracted the authorities’ attention.

“I was living in Damascus during the chemical attack in 2013, and I was doing a documentary and was injured which has affected my health,” he said.

“I’ve been in detention and I’ve been tortured and almost lost my life there. I was only released from detention after my dad paid a bribe or I would have been there much longer.

“I still have the names of colleagues who were also in detention and some of them have lost their lives already. Some are still there and some have been killed by the Syrian authorities.

“We came under attack from chemical weapons and I couldn’t leave my area. It was only after the United Nations became involved that I managed to get to Lebanon and from there continue my journey to Europe.”

Abbud said the trauma and flashbacks of what he had gone through – including the loss of one eye – only started to dissipate after about two years, but he said there was little respite in Denmark.

“I wrote an article in 2016, after I arrived in Denmark about my journey to Europe, about human trafficking, what the traffickers do, how they sell people, what they do to the migrants,” he said.

“The day after this story was published, I was attacked. They came to my home and took my laptop, my CD drive and my memory stick – all the information I was keeping there.

“The police compiled a report but the Danish authorities didn’t take action.

“There was a second raid when I was attacked physically and it made me start thinking I had to go somewhere else because my life was in danger.”

He said he wanted to highlight issues with Danish authorities, which had taken no action when he was attacked because of Islamophobia in the country.

“They don’t like asylum seekers, they don’t like refugees,” he said. “The government encouraged people to keep acting against asylum seekers, and kept saying to them ‘you’re not welcome here’.

“I also wrote an article about the authorities after an incident where the Quran was burned.

“We discovered there is no respect for journalists there, especially foreigners from another country.”

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A fortnight ago Denmark became the first European country to withdraw residence status for more than 200 refugees from Syria, saying parts of the country were safe enough to return to – a move attacked by activists and community groups.

Stuart MacPherson, the Danish consulate in Edinburgh, told the Sunday National he had no knowledge of Abbud’s circumstances, but said: “Denmark is recognised as one of the most law-abiding and responsible countries in the world where visitors and citizens can be assured of fair treatment by the authorities.

‘The crime rate is one of the lowest in the world and the Danes are known for their tolerance and general social responsibility.

“The allegations … run counter to this well-established national reputation.”

Initially, the Home Office accepted Abbud’s asylum application, then changed their mind, and he was told he could be sent back to Denmark.

His lawyer, Usman Aslam, from Glasgow firm Rea Law, told the Sunday National: “It is of great concern that a European country is revoking status for Syrians of all people on the basis that it is safe to return there.

“Objective evidence, various reports would strongly disagree with this. In fact, one only needs to check the Home Office policy on the country today which confirms that the situation is so severe in Syria.

“Our client, a well-known journalist in Denmark, in my view, faces the prospect of being sent to Syria if removed to Denmark.

“Our client has been waiting in the Home Office system since 2019, which we learned having recently been instructed here, in itself is concerning.

“We do not intend to give up the fight here and are hoping to achieve a positive outcome.”