COPENHAGEN – Denmark already has one of Europe’s harshest stances on immigration, but the wealthy Scandinavian country is set to adopt legislation today enabling it to open asylum centres outside Europe where applicants would be sent to live.
The latest move by Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s Social Democratic anti-immigration government is aimed at deterring migrants from coming to Denmark at all.
In practice, asylum seekers would have to submit an application in person at the Danish border and then be flown to an asylum centre outside Europe while their application is being processed.
If the application is approved and the person is granted refugee status, he or she would be given the right to live in the host country.
The proposal is expected to sail through Parliament today, supported by a majority including the far-right, despite opposition from some left-wing parties.
Denmark normally has a reputation for being one of the happiest countries in the world.
But it has repeatedly made headlines in recent years with its anti-immigration policies, including its official “zero refugees” target, its withdrawal of residence permits from Syrians now that it considers parts of the war-torn country safe, and its crackdown on Danish “ghettos” in a bid to reduce the number of “non-Western” residents.
The aim of the new law is to establish a legal foundation for the transfer of people seeking international protection in Denmark to a third country, according to the Immigration Ministry.
Denmark would foot the bill for the operation, but the processing of asylum requests would be carried out by the host country.
If a person’s asylum request is rejected, the migrant would be asked to leave the host country.
But even “those whose asylum claims are successful after being exported will not be allowed to come ‘back’ to Denmark to enjoy refugee status. They will simply get refugee status in the as yet unnamed host country”, University of Copenhagen migration expert Martin Lemberg-Pedersen said. – AFP, June 3, 2021
