Denmark’s hard line on refugees under pressure

It takes just half an hour to drive from the Danish capital, Copenhagen, across the Øresund Bridge – of television's The Bridge fame – to Malmö in Sweden.

But, in their response to the refugee crisis, the two Nordic countries couldn’t be further apart. Sweden has thrown open its doors to people fleeing Syria, Eritrea and other warzones, accepting more than 5,000 asylum applications in the last week.

Denmark, meanwhile, has been dubbed the "Hungary of the north" by its leading Politiken broadsheet for its hardline migration policy after it sealed border links with Germany last week.

Like Ireland and the UK, Denmark has an opt-out from EU justice and home affairs however it participates in the Dublin registration system through a special parallel agreement.

Europe’s refugee crisis poses a dilemma for the right-wing minority government of prime minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, who has been in office for just three months.

Last year Denmark received more than 15,000 asylum applications, the fifth-largest by population in the EU. Taking a hard line on them was something Mr Rasmussen’s Venstre party made a key part of its winning election strategy in June.

The right-wing populist Danish People’s Party (DF) vowed to ensure the government kept its promise as a condition of its crucial support for the minority administration from the opposition benches,

The new government soon got to work, enacting new laws to dissuade refugees and migrants from registering in Denmark by cutting benefits for new arrivals by 45 per cent.

Rejected asylum seekers

Last week the immigration ministry spent a reported €34,000 on advertisements in four Lebanese newspapers, telling would-be immigrants they would not have the right to be joined by family members during their first year in Denmark.

A residency permit would take four years to be issued and, among the conditions, was that applicants learn Danish.

The advertisement concluded: “There is a special return centre to ensure that rejected asylum seekers leave Denmark as quickly as possible.”

But even Denmark is beginning to feel the heat, particularly in a tense stand-off between Danish police and refugees on their way to Sweden who refused to leave a train.

Prime minister Rasmussen insisted on Thursday that Denmark would not allow the EU to dictate the terms of its immigration policy and would not participate in an obligatory EU quota system to redistribute refugees through the bloc.

However, at a joint press conference, immigration and integration minister Inger Støjberg said Denmark would accept additional refugees, depending on parliamentary approval, if a compromise agreement can be reached.

“In light of the extraordinary situation, we have informed the parliamentary parties that the government will offer to take a limited amount of asylum seekers, totalling 1,000 people,” she said.

In addition, Mr Rasmussen announced that his government would contribute 750 million kroner (€100 million) to joint EU solutions to the crisis – with one third in humanitarian aid in areas bordering conflict zones and two thirds going to initiatives including the EU’s Frontex border agency.

‘Temporary protection’

Anticipating further criticism, the Danish leader said he felt an obligation to “use the tragic situation to find a solution that is in Denmark’s interest”.

“Regardless of what one might think about the government’s immigration policies, there are refugees in Denmark and more refugees are coming,” he said.

“We as a society have a responsibility for them . . . and a responsibility to ensure that we do not make the same historical mistakes as before.”

His remarks come a day after a conciliatory signal from Kristian Thulesen Dahl, leader of the Danish People’s Party (DF). His party finished the election in second place with a fifth of the vote, ahead of the ruling Venstre party, following a campaign demanding that Denmark accept no more refugees.

But on Wednesday even Mr Dahl conceded that the refugee crisis “may be the biggest overall crisis since the second World War”.

The DF leader called for a “national compromise” that would involve Denmark bringing in more refugees but with the clear intention of sending them back out of the country as soon as possible.

"If we were ensured that we are only helping refugees with temporary protection in Denmark, then we would be much more positive towards more coming to Denmark," said Mr Dahl to the Berlingske daily. "That is something we are ready to accept."

Not everyone in the DF is enthused by the idea of accepting further refugees into Denmark, even on a temporary basis, with one MP suggesting refugees be shipped off to an abandoned navy base in Greenland, the autonomous arctic country within the Kingdom of Denmark.

After years of a growing migration-critical mood, public opinion may be shifting. A poll on Monday suggested that 78 per cent of Danes want their country to participate in the EU distribution plan.

But Denmark’s reputation appears to have spread far beyond its borders: of the 7,000 people who arrived in Denmark, all but 1,000 were in transit.