COPENHAGEN, Denmark – Songul Yuksel, a Kurdish girl who attracted huge media attention over laws that were set to deport her back to Turkey, may be able to stay in Denmark after the Danish government reached a consensus with almost all parliamentary parties about loosening the country’s immigration laws.
That means that a revision of the law will grant citizenship to approximately 30 children who have been deported.
The Danish government wanted 18-year-old Yuksel deported to Turkey on grounds she cannot successfully integrate, despite speaking Danish fluently and being among the best in her high school class and having her family in Denmark.
The authorities said she does not meet requirements for a residence permit. In their response to Yuksel’s application, immigration authorities wrote that she cannot “achieve such ties with Denmark that is the basis for a successful integration in this country.”
They wanted her to go live with a sick, 80-year-old grandmother in Turkey whom she says she barely knows. In addition, the authorities said that Yuksel’s mother lives in Turkey and should be able to take care of the girl. But her files show that her mother had divorced Yuksel’s father and had remarried.
Several politicians have challenged the case on the basis of her language skills, school marks and family ties in Denmark. According to Denmark’s Politiken newspaper, the girl has top marks in Danish social studies and literature.
"I came out of high school with top marks. If this is not integration, what is integration? I do not understand,” Yuksel was quoted as saying.
Politicians and teachers and fellow students supported the Kurdish girl and Yuksel received big support for her cause. A Facebook group that was created in order to help her received 17,500 “likes.”
The criticism has meant that Denmark's Justice Minister Karen Haekkerup stepped into the fray. She declared her readiness to discuss the case with other political parties and see if the law could be changed and Yuksel may be allowed to stay.
Now all parties in the Danish Parliament, except the right-wing Danish People’s Party, is ready to loosen the legislation on family reunification. So now, Yuksel must apply for a residence permit once again.
Danish People’s Party immigration spokesperson Martin Henriksen is against the revision of the law.
"If people reside in Denmark illegally for several years, then they have violated the law," Henriksen told Politiken newspaper.
The Liberal party does not agree with Henriksen.
"When you're so good at social studies and literature, it shows that you have a keen interest in and knowledge of how Danish society is organized,” Inger Stojberg from the Liberal Party said.
Yuksel herself is not entirely comfortable, despite the law change.
“I've applied for a residence permit so many times and been denied each time. So I'm a little worried about whether I can get permanent residence permit. I dare not really believe it until I get it in hand,” she told Danish media.
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