68 ANNUAL REPORT 2015 THE OMBUDSMAN’S PRESENCE DURING FORCED DEPORTATIONS Since 1 April 2011, the Ombudsman has monitored the police’s forced deportations. The objective of the monitoring is to ensure that the deportations are carried out with respect for the individual and without unnecessary use of force. There was no separate monitoring before the Ombudsman was assigned the task, and the system is therefore new in Denmark. Normally, we are present on the day when the foreign national is deported out of the country, but we may also, as in the case mentioned above, observe the detention prior to a forced deportation. We select the forced deportations we wish to monitor from the police’s lists. It is significant to us whether the deportation involves vulnerable groups, whether families are deported, and whether there is an increased risk that forcible measures will have to be used, which we know from experience is often the case with deportations to Afghanistan. In addition to this, we always make an effort to be present during forced deportations where the police use specially chartered planes – chartered by the Danish police on their own or together with other countries. We are only allowed to observe and do not have any authority to intervene in the deportation proceedings. In practice, we stay discreetly in the background. We try to be present in situations where the police take forcible measures into use. During the above-mentioned detention, the Ombudsman’s staff member stayed with the mother all the time. The Ombudsman focuses on various aspects when assessing whether the deportation is effected with respect for the individual and without unnecessary use of force. In addition to forcible measures, the Ombudsman also focusses on the unity of the family. It happens that individual family members go underground in an attempt to prevent the deportation. According to police guidelines, families must generally be deported collectively. However, in exceptional cases the police may carry out deportations of families without all family members being present. In these cases, the Ombudsman assesses, among other things, whether the police have informed the family prior to the deportation of the risk that the family may be separated. The Ombudsman also assesses whether the police have actively tried to find the family members who have disappeared, and whether the police have made an actual decision that it is justifiable to carry out the deportation of the family members present. The family in the above-mentioned case was not detained prior to the deportation because the police had grounds for suspecting that some of the family members