Denmark tells Syrian refugees to return to Damascus
Zero asylum seekers -- that is essentially the Danish government's ultimate goal. Now, it is ordering Syrian refugees to return to Damascus, which Copenhagen says is safe.
Zero asylum seekers -- that is essentially the Danish government's ultimate goal. Now, it is ordering Syrian refugees to return to Damascus, which Copenhagen says is safe.
The Danish government plans to swap a controversial law targeting immigrant neighborhoods for another that cracks down harder. Rights groups warn that such moves could violate current laws against discrimination.
The Danish government wants even tougher restrictions on the number 'non-western' residents in neighborhoods. A new bill aims to restrict their number to 30% or less within the next ten years.
Denmark has stripped 94 Syrian refugees of their residency permits after declaring that Damascus and the surrounding area were safe. The Scandinavian nation is the first EU country to say that law-abiding refugees can be sent back to Syria.
The Danish parliament has voted to begin an impeachment trial against the former immigration minister Inger Stojberg. She will go on trial over her policy of separating asylum seeking couples if one of them was under 18, and therefore a minor.
The Danish prime minister wants to see an end to asylum requests in the country. The Social Democrat leader made the comment in Parliament, reinforcing Denmark’s restrictive stance on immigration.
More than 1,500 migrants have illegally entered Germany from Scandinavian nations since the beginning of the year. Politicians are calling for an overhaul of the Dublin regulation to make such secondary migration less attractive.
Denmark has appointed a new special migration envoy to "help open doors" towards a new EU migration policy which would push reception centers outside EU borders. The government on Thursday also said that Tunisia should take in the 27 migrants aboard the Danish-flagged tanker Maersk Etienne which has been stranded off Malta for weeks.
The Danish government says that more migrants left the country in 2019 than entered. But this is not a result of a softer immigration policy, the Danish Refugee Council says.
On Wednesday, the Danish government announced it would relax some of its restrictions on foreigners traveling into the country. The restrictions, in place since mid-March, had affected foreign spouses and life partners, as well as the children and parents of Danes born outside the country.
A recent report released by the Council of Europe has called on the Danish government to improve the conditions in two of its migrant detention centers.
After fleeing Afghanistan as a child, Nadia Nadim turned to football while living in a center for asylum seekers in Denmark. In 2009, she became the first foreign-born player to play football in the Danish national team. She believes that sport can help migrant and refugee children better integrate in their new societies.