The Sandholm Accomodation Centre, Sandholmgårdsvej 40 3460 Birkerød

Facts

From barracks to accommodation centre

By Hanne Fabricius, Cand.phil. arkæolog, ph.d.-stipendiat (13 stories)

The reception and departure centre for asylum-seekers, Sandholm Accommodation Centre, is located some 30 kilometres north of Copenhagen. The old yellow military barracks were built in 1909-12 and from 1945 to 1985 housed the Royal Life Guards. In 1985 the Danish Red Cross bought the barracks, which on 2 January 1986 reopened as an accommodation centre for asylum-seekers. The centre accommodates around 600 individuals who are either awaiting a decision on their application for asylum or have had their application rejected and are awaiting departure from Denmark. The centre is guarded around the clock by security personnel. It also houses the immigration section of the Danish National Police and the Immigration Service. The Danish Prison and Probation Service runs Ellebækhus, the institution for detained asylum-seekers awaiting deportation from Denmark. This is a separate section behind perimeter fencing, with its own access road from Ellebækvej.

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Life at the Sandholm Accommodation Centre

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Story written by Hanne Fabricius

Time / Periode 1985 2008

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Families are accommodated together in double rooms, while lone asylum-seekers are accommodated with other lone individuals of the same sex. The residents are free to come and go as they wish. Some of the asylum-seekers are affected by their stay of up to seven years at the Sandholm centre. A number of them have experienced traumatic events before coming to Denmark. The adult asylum-seekers are entitled to receive education and are on employment activation programmes. Depending on their age, the children attend the centre's playgroup, the Danish Red Cross school or the local school. In 2008, the Close the Centre" demonstration rallied 1,000 of Denmark's autonomists – a movement of radical left-wing activists – who mounted a demonstration to close the centre, which ended in confrontation between the police and demonstrators. "