Source description last updated: 23 April 2024

In brief: The Danish Immigration Service (DIS) is an agency within the Danish Ministry of Immigration and Integration that deals with cases concerning foreigners' right to visit and stay in Denmark.

Coverage on ecoi.net:

Country of origin reports, including fact-finding mission reports and notes

Covered on a weekly basis on ecoi.net for countries of priorities A–E (all available countries).

Mission/Mandate/Objectives:

“The Danish Immigration Service (DIS) processes applications for asylum. It first decides whether an application should be processed in Denmark or another EU country. [...] If a case is to be processed in Denmark, the DIS takes a decision whether the individual should be allowed or refused residence in the country.” (DIS website: Indrejse og ophold, undated, working translation by ACCORD)

Moreover, the DIS is tasked with processing requests for family reunification and permanent visas and is involved in the processing of short-term visa requests (DIS website: Indrejse og ophold, undated).

The DIS’s Centre for Documentation and Counter Extremism (CDE) has a Country of Origin Information (COI) unit is tasked with collecting and analysing information on conditions in the countries of origin of asylum seekers. While the information is used for the processing of immigration cases and especially of asylum applications, the unit provides background information to the whole of the Ministry of Immigration and Integration as needed (DIS website: Landedokumentation, undated). COI is collected through desk-based research and fact-finding missions (DIS website: Centre for Documentation and Counter Extremism, undated). According to the DIS, the employees of the CDE “are excluded from processing any applications and are not involved in the ruling of cases.” (DIS website: Country of Origin Information, undated)

Funding:

Danish government funds

Scope of reporting:

Geographic focus: all countries of origin of asylum-seekers

Thematic focus: political situation, human rights, security, socio-economic situation, documents, situation of returnees, etc.

Methodology:

The DIS states that its COI publications follow the standards set by the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) COI Report Methodology. (DIS website: Country of Origin Information, undated)

DIS reports are written on the basis of terms of reference (ToR) drawn up by the DIS in consultation with the Danish Immigration Appeals Board (see, for example, DIS: Ukraine – Situation of Roma from the Zakarpattia Region, 18 December 2023, p. 4), the Danish Refugee Appeals Board or the Danish National ID Centre (NIDC) (see, for example, DIS: Türkiye Syrians in Türkiye – the Temporary Protection Regulation and its implementation, 8 November 2023, p. 5).

Reports draw upon online or written interviews with oral sources such as researchers and representatives of media organisations, NGOs and think tanks specialised in the subject matter (see, for example, DIS: Syria: Military Service, 26 January 2024, p. 4) and synthesise information from public sources, including sources writing in languages other than English (see, for example, DIS: Algeria: Entry, residence and readmission for Palestinians, 15 March 2024, p. 3). Some reports are based on in-person interviews conducted during fact-finding missions (see, for example, DIS: Ukraine – Situation of Roma from the Zakarpattia Region, 18 December 2023, p. 4). Oral sources, whether consulted as part of a fact-finding mission or remotely, are informed about the purpose of the mission/the report and that their statements would be incorporated into a public report. Minutes taken during the interviews are forwarded to them for approval. The approved statements are included in an annex of the report (see, for example, DIS: Ukraine – Situation of Roma from the Zakarpattia Region, 18 December 2023, p. 4 and DIS: Myanmar: Security Situation, 8 September 2023, p. 4). Reports do not reflect all details provided by the sources. Issues that were highlighted by sources during interviews but have not been addressed in the ToR are included in the annex but not addressed in the body of the report itself (see, for example, DIS: Ukraine – Situation of Roma from the Zakarpattia Region, 18 December 2023, p. 4 and DIS: Algeria: Entry, residence and readmission for Palestinians, 15 March 2024, p. 3). Larger reports have been externally peer-reviewed by another north European country’s government COI unit (see, for example, DIS: Syria: Military Service, 26 January 2024, p. 4 and DIS: Myanmar: Security Situation, 8 September 2023, p. 4)

Languages of publication:

Danish and English

Further reading / links:

Discussion regarding a report on Eritrea in 2014/2015:

AI - Amnesty International (Dänemark): “Vi skulle jo også kunne sove om natten“ [English: “After all, we need to be able to sleep at night too”, working translation by ACCORD], September 2015
https://amnesty.dk/nyhedsliste/2015/vi-skulle-jo-ogsaa-kunne-sove-om-natten  

Guardian: Britain refusing asylum to Eritreans on back of discredited report, 10 September 2015
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/sep/10/britain-refusing-asylum-eritreans-discredited-report

HRW - Human Rights Watch: Denmark: Eritrea Immigration Report Deeply Flawed, 17 December 2014
https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/12/17/denmark-eritrea-immigration-report-deeply-flawed

UNHCR - UN High Commission for Refugees: Fact Finding Mission Report of the Danish Immigration Service, “Eritrea – Drivers and Root Causes of Emigration, National Service and the Possibility of Return. Country of Origin Information for Use in the Asylum Determination Process”, UNHCR’s perspective, December 2014
https://www.ft.dk/samling/20141/almdel/uui/bilag/41/1435206.pdf

Discussion on a report on Syria 2021:

HRW - Human Rights Watch: Denmark: Flawed Country of Origin Reports Lead to Flawed Refugee Policies, 19 April 2021
https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/04/19/denmark-flawed-country-origin-reports-lead-flawed-refugee-policies 

SACD – Syrian Association for Citizens’ Dignity: Experts interviewed for Danish Immigration Service report on Damascus condemn misuse of their interviews, most will not cooperate with DIS in the same way again, 4 March 2022
https://syacd.org/experts-interviewed-for-danish-immigration-service-report-on-damascus-condemn-misuse-of-their-interviews-most-will-not-cooperate-with-dis-in-the-same-way-again/ 

Methodological note:

ecoi.net's source descriptions contain background information on an organisation’s mission & objective, funding and reporting methodology, as well as on how we cover the source. The descriptions were prepared after researching publicly accessible information within time constraints. Most information contained in a source description was taken from the source itself. The aim is to provide a brief introduction to the sources covered regularly, offering information on relevant aspects in one place in a systematic manner. 

All links accessed 23 April 2024.