Deeming Damascus 'Safe' : The Implications of the Paradigm Shift in Danish Asylum Policy and the Increased Focus on Return
This paper examines the intensified focus on return in Danish asylum policy, the so-called paradigm shift of 2019, and the changed approach to asylum claims made by Syrian nationals from the Damascus region. It does so by analyzing nine asylum cases assessed by the Refugee Appeals Board and material produced by Danish state actors using the discourse analysis of Laclau and Mouffe (1985) and 'the toolbox of governmentality' (Walters 2012). The aim of the study was to understand the tactics of legitimization regarding the decision to reject asylum protection to three Syrian nationals as well as mapping the structures that facilitated the decisions. The study concludes that discourses linking 'refugee status' to 'temporariness' and 'return', 'asylum protection' to 'international obligations', and 'the refugee' to an essentialist understanding of the term are fundamental in facilitating the decisions made in the cases. Furthermore, a governmental goal of ensuring the security of society underpins and works to sustain these discourses. The findings contribute to creating detailed knowledge about the Danish asylum system and the logic supporting the increased focus on return.