Fortress Denmark wants to send its asylum seekers outside Europe

Denmark on Thursday ratcheted up its tough anti-immigration laws by adopting new legislation 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 in the first place.

Asylum seekers would now 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, but not in Denmark.

The bill sailed through parliament on Thursday, supported by a majority including the far-right, despite opposition from some left-wing parties.

The European Commission on Thursday said the Danish plan violates existing EU asylum rules.

However, since Copenhagen has an opt-out on EU migration and asylum cooperation, the Commission would examine the situation "before deciding on any next steps," spokesman Adalbert Jahnz told reporters.

Denmark 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 deems parts of the wartorn country safe and its crackdown on "ghettos" to reduce the number of "non-Western" residents.

Read also: Syrian refugee on hunger strike to protest Danish deportation policy as scores protest outside parliament

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 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 told AFP.

Today, the Danish parliament has passed a bill, opening the possibility to transfer asylum seekers and refugees to a third country – hence externalize the asylum procedure. We find this idea irresponsible & lacking in solidarity. Read full statement here: https://t.co/Idkzp3D49c pic.twitter.com/oejPfHt6uu

— Danish Refugee Council (@DRC_ngo) June 3, 2021

In talks with Rwanda

No country has agreed to collaborate with Denmark yet, but the government says it is in talks with five to 10 nations, without identifying them.

"A system of transferring asylum seekers to a third country must, of course, be established within the framework of international conventions," Migration Minister Mattias Tesfaye told AFP.

"In addition, we need to have a monitoring mechanism in place so that we can continuously ensure that everything is going as planned."

He had previously said the countries may not necessarily be democracies "in the way we see things."

Danish media have mentioned Egypt, Eritrea and Ethiopia as possibilities.

And Denmark and Rwanda signed a memorandum of understanding in April on asylum and migration cooperation, though the document doesn't specifically cover external asylum processing.

#Denmark has become the first European country to approve a law providing for asylum seekers to be sent abroad for processing. Parliament adopted the proposal to set up camps outside the European Union where refugees' applications would be considered.

— Farhan Jimale (@farhanjimale) June 3, 2021

'Risk of domino effect'

The new legislation marks a complete U-turn on immigration for the Social Democrats under Frederiksen's reign.

For many years, the populist Danish People's Party had a monopoly on anti-immigration policy. But their stance has become the norm, University of Copenhagen political scientist Kasper Hansen noted.

Five years after the adoption of a law that allowed Denmark to seize asylum seekers' valuables - legislation that made headlines but was actually rarely applied - authorities continue to practice deterrence.

The new law is a "continuation of the symbolic policy," the secretary-general of ActionAid Denmark, Tim Whyte, told AFP.

In 2019, only 2,716 people sought asylum in Denmark, eight times fewer than during the 2015 migrant crisis.

While the initiative will yield political gain at home, international observers have expressed concern.

The UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, said the law was "contrary to the principles of international refugee cooperation."

"By initiating such a drastic and restrictive change in Danish refugee legislation, Denmark risks starting a domino effect, where other countries in Europe and in neighbouring regions will also explore the possibility of limiting the protection of refugees on their soil," UNHCR's representative in the Nordic and Baltic countries, Henrik Nordentoft, told news agency Ritzau.

Denmark is letting its European partners down, Whyte said.

"Refugees will seek asylum in Germany, France, Sweden. It will not deter them to cross the Mediterranean Sea but they won't get to Denmark, which in a way is abdicating its responsibilities."