Avnstrup - A Deportation Camp and a link in the Danish Deportation Chain

Working together across privilege

Reporters from The Bridge Radio went to Departure Center Avnstrup to talk we people staying there about the current conditions and the relation between the Deportation Camps in Denmark to better understand the functions of the Danish Deportation Regime. Center Avnstrup is placed in the building of a former hospital 20 km from Roskilde and has been running as an asylum center for many years but was in 2018 changed to a Departure Center for people who have had their asylum case rejected. This was part of the Financial Budget by the former Government and Dansk Folkeparti with the intention of creating efficiency and the possibility of sanctioning those who do not collaborate with the police according to their standards. Red Cross, who run the center, explains that people who collaborate with the police about their deportation will stay be in Avnstrup during this process while those who do not collaborate with the police about their deportation will be transferred to the deportation centers Sjælsmark, Kærshovedgaard or Ellebæk. At our visit we wanted to ask what this collaboration actually is and what the difference is between the centers. We talked with people about their personal situation and the unclear demands of 'collaboration with the police'. Listen and share.