Father sentenced to three years in prison for sending daughters on ‘re-education trips’ to Somalia

A 57-year-old man has been sentenced to three years in prison for sending his three daughters on forced “re-education trips” to Somalia, the Aarhus District Court ruled on Tuesday.

The court found the man guilty of subjecting his daughters to prolonged abuse during their stay in Somalia, where they were sent under false pretenses in 2022. According to the ruling, the father also committed violence against the girls and issued threats against the eldest daughter. The man has denied all charges throughout the trial.

“We find [the daughters’] testimonies credible and consistent,” the presiding judge stated, citing the severity and duration of the abuse, the girls’ minority status at the time, and the lasting harm inflicted. One daughter remains in Somalia.

The two eldest daughters, who returned to Denmark in February with assistance from Danish authorities after their father’s pretrial detention, testified that they had believed they were traveling to Kenya and later England to visit relatives. Instead, they were taken to Somalia, where their father confiscated their phones and declared they would “never return home.”

During their over three-year stay, the daughters described enduring frequent beatings—with cables, water hoses, or available objects—over perceived misconduct, including past actions like playing football with boys in Denmark. The father claimed in court that his intent was for them to learn the Quran and Somali, best achieved in Somalia.

The case is among the few prosecuted since Denmark criminalized sending children abroad for harmful “re-education” in 2019. A 2026 report by research institute VIVE notes an average of one such case annually, with girls disproportionately affected and Somalia, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Syria as common destinations. In 2025, Denmark’s National Center Against Honor-Related Conflicts recorded 55 new cases of forced trips and 174 reports of children at risk.

The convicted man has announced plans to appeal the verdict through his defense attorney. Danish broadcaster DR withheld his name to protect his children’s identities.