Advocacy

Dignified return

Danish Refugee Council (DRC) has provided counselling to rejected asylum seekers for many years. Our priority is to ensure that each person's dignity is respected throughout the return process. We aim to empower individuals to make informed decisions about their future, whether that means exploring pathways for legal stay or working towards sustainable reintegration.

Dignified return requires time, counselling, involvement and meaningful reintegration support

Access to a fair and efficient asylum procedure is a precondition for dignified return. Furthermore, a dignified return process should include access to impartial and independent counselling on both legal matters of the case and return. The process should include sufficient time, involvement, as well as adequate and dignified reception conditions to safeguard the mental and physical health of the individual. Additionally, the process should include access to qualified reintegration support.

Read more about DRC's recommendations for Quality return counselling

Impartial return counselling aims to empower the individual asylum seeker and supports them in the process of making informed decisions

DRC offers return counselling to rejected asylum seekers and has a team of experienced counsellors, skilled in social work and good, empathic communication. This allows them to engage in meaningful counselling with rejected asylum seekers about their situation. We have many years of experience providing counselling to exactly this target group.

The return counselling is impartial and only provided with a humanitarian aim to support and contribute to clarification among asylum seekers in a return position.

DRC works rights-based and with a purpose to ensure that asylum seekers have access to thorough information about their situation and about the different choices and possibilities available to them. Our aim is to support them in making informed decisions about their future.

The counselling does not necessarily focus on return. Instead, the counselling takes a holistic approach and is based on the understanding that the asylum seeker is an expert in his or her life. The main purpose is to support informed decisions and inspire the individual’s agency.

DRC counsellors apply DRC’s return counselling methodology which is an approach that has been developed over several years to ensure a qualified and professional approach that addresses the complexity of return counselling. It is based on a deep professional understanding of a vulnerable and complex target group with different resources and challenges as well as a fundamental recognition of the difficult situations many asylum seekers face.

Many rejected asylum seekers need time to adjust to their new situation. Some may feel frustrated, be sad, lack capability to act, or feel completely detached from their own asylum case.

The starting point for counselling is always the asylum seekers’ own perspectives and thoughts about their future. Counselling is thus guided by the topics that the asylum seeker brings to the table and will often involve conversations about the legal process and rejection, worries, as well as possible strategies and plans for the future.

DRC’s return counsellors offer more than just accurate information. DRC wants to create a counselling space that is safe and allows for qualified conversations, where all topics are welcomed, and where there are always two experts present: the counsellor with the solid knowledge about the asylum system, and the asylum seeker, who is an expert in his or her own life. The counselling is thus always person-centered, adjusted to the individual, and based on the principles of recognition and empowerment.

Read about DRC’s return counselling methodology

DRC Return Counselling Methodology Brief

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DRC’s recommendations for a good and dignified return process

Based on DRC’s experience with counselling of rejected asylum seekers, we have identified the following best practices which can support a good and dignified return process:

Rejected asylum seekers should have access to impartial and non-directive return counselling

Counselling about return is best done in a safe atmosphere by well-trained non-governmental counsellors. Return counselling is not just information-giving and guidance about the actual return procedure. Good counselling aims to enable the rejected asylum seekers to engage in conversations with the return counsellors where worries and questions can be shared freely. Often this process is necessary before the rejected asylum seekers may be open to discuss a potential return. Return counsellors must thus be impartial in their counselling, have extensive knowledge of the asylum procedure and practices, and be skilled at building trust and engage in empathetic communication with people in vulnerable situations.

Rejected asylum seekers must be offered sufficient time to be able to relate to their (new) situation in a return procedure and consider their choices

Rejected asylum seekers must be offered sufficient time to be able to relate to their (new) situation in a return procedure and consider their choices. Many may have held onto to the hope of building a new life for a long time, making it a complex process to adjust and make informed decisions about their future. Speedy procedures and threats of sanctions rarely provide clarity or lead to sustainable solutions. Instead, it often takes time to build trust in the process, make informed decisions, and prepare for the future. Time is thus often crucial to navigate the return process with dignity.

Rejected asylum seekers should be offered access to legal counselling

Rejected asylum seekers should have access to high quality legal counselling throughout the asylum procedure and after a final rejection. If rejected asylum seekers wish to explore the possibilities to complain about the decision, ask for a review of the case or seek other pathways for legal stay, they should have access to impartial legal counselling to address these questions. It may be difficult for rejected asylum seekers to understand and accept the new situation after a rejection to the asylum claim. Some rejected asylum seekers may feel frustrated, confused and uncertain about their future, and for some it can be challenging to come to terms with the legal process, they have been trough. Access to impartial legal counselling can be an important step towards making informed decisions about the future.

Rejected asylum seekers must be offered dignified and adequate reception conditions and be treated with respect

The use of sanctions and detention to “motivate” return must be avoided, as it undermines human dignity. It is also ineffective as a motivational tool. Instead, rejected asylum seekers should be offered dignified and adequate reception conditions to safeguard their mental and physical health. Additionally, they should receive adequate support to enhance empowerment and maintain their skills and sense of agency.

Rejected asylum seekers should be offered meaningful and qualified reintegration support

Access to meaningful and sufficient support to ensure sustainable reintegration should be a part of the return process and available for all persons who return. As a reintegration process begins prior to departure, it is important to have access to pre-departure counseling, receive guidance on reintegration activities, and have opportunities for skill development. Sustainable reintegration involves more than economic self-sufficiency; it is shaped by returnees' experiences throughout the entire migration cycle and influenced by both individual, social, and contextual factors. Support should thus be holistic, tailored to individual needs, addressing economic, social, and psychosocial elements.

New EU rules on return

In March 2025, the European Commission presented a proposal for a reform of the EU’s return framework which covers rejected asylum seekers. Danish Refugee Council (DRC) has been providing counselling to rejected asylum seekers in Denmark for many years. We follow the reform to promote good practices and to safeguard the rights of rejected asylum seekers.

Read more about DRC*s position on return procedures