A majority of politicians in the Danish parliament have voted for a proposal that could see Danish asylum claims processed in countries overseas by creating asylum reception centres abroad.
The new proposal will make it legal for the Danish government to create asylum reception centres overseas, with Minister for Immigration and Integration Mattias Tesfaye having had discussions with the Rwandan government to create a centre recently.
Initially, the Liberal Party was reluctant to sign on to the idea, with the party’s immigration spokesman Mads Fuglede saying that the parliament needed to have a legal basis before the government should enter into any agreements with foreign countries, Berlingske reports.
Danish Prime Minister Sets Target of Zero Asylum Seekers to Protect Social Cohesion https://t.co/5Pf8l8ZDTw
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) January 23, 2021
Minister for Immigration and Integration Tesfaye noted earlier this week that any agreement made with another country on the issue would then be submitted for approval by the Danish parliament, the Folketing. Following the statement, the Liberals approved the proposal.
The European Commission, meanwhile, has slammed the proposal, with spokesman Adalbert Jahnz saing: “This is not possible under the existing EU rules or under the new Pact for Migration and Asylum.”
“This raises questions about both access to asylum procedures and effective access to protection,” Jahnz added. The United Nations has also criticised the idea and called on Denmark not to proceed with it, Berlingske reports.
The Social Democrat-led Danish government has been one of the toughest on mass migration in Europe since coming to power in 2019.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called for a crackdown on migrant crime and in April, stated that Syrian refugees from safe areas should return back to their home country.
“If you’re a refugee, it’s because you have a need for protection. And if that need disappears because you are not individually persecuted or there are no general conditions that require protection, then, of course, you have to return to the country you come from,” Fredricksen said.
In January, Prime Minister Frederiksen set a target of zero new asylum seekers, citing concerns with Danish social cohesion.
The Danish government has reached an agreement with several other major parties on citizenship that will prevent anyone given conditional and unconditional prison sentences from becoming citizens. https://t.co/ACvTeZM0G2
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) April 22, 2021
