New laws allow police to search asylum seekers to secure cash and valuables, along with other measures to deter migration
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Mohammed, 19, from Bangladesh, at the refugee camp in Thisted, northern Jutland. Danish politicians have approved a law allowing the state to seize valuables from refugees to cover the cost of their maintenance. Photograph: Sara Gangsted/EPA
Denmark has become the latest European state to force refugees to hand over their valuables, with the continent increasingly using scare tactics and physical deterrents to deal with the biggest migration crisis since the second world war.
Following similar moves in Switzerland and southern Germany, Denmark’s parliament voted on Tuesday to allow police to search asylum seekers on arrival in the country and confiscate any non-essential items worth more than 10,000 Danish kroner (about £1,000) that have no sentimental value to their owner.New laws allow police to search asylum seekers to secure cash and valuables, along with other measures to deter migration
The bill presented by the centre-right minority government of the prime minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, was approved by 81 of the 109 lawmakers present, as members of the opposition Social Democrats backed the measures.
The Danish government says the procedure is to cover the cost of each asylum seeker’s treatment by the state, and mimics treatment of Danish citizens on welfare benefits.
The UN has nevertheless called the move concerning and regrettable, while an opposition party termed it “morally horrible”. An academic specialist confirmed that Danes are expected to use their own income before claiming benefits, but pointed out that except in rare occasions police do not have the right to search Danish welfare claimants.
Rights campaigners have also criticised the laws, which will also prevent refugees from applying to be reunited with their children for three years, and will only give war refugees from Syria a single year of protection.
Earlier this month, government spokesman Marcus Knuth told the Guardian it was “ludicrous” to compare the new law to the treatment of Jews during the Holocaust, since similar laws apply to Danish citizens on welfare benefits. “We’re simply applying the same rules we apply to Danish citizens who wish to take money from the Danish government,” Knuth said.
But opponents of the law argue that while refugees can in general still expect to be treated humanely in Denmark, the new legislation is ethically unsound. Pernille Skipper, an MP and legal affairs spokesperson for Enhedslisten, a leftwing Danish party, said: “Morally it is a horrible way to treat people fleeing mass crimes, war, rapes. They are fleeing from war and how do we treat them? We take their jewellery.”
Klaus Petersen, professor at the Centre for Welfare State Research at the University of Southern Denmark, confirmed that Danish welfare claimants have to give up their savings before they receive benefits – but not their valuables, unlike refugees. They will also not be searched except in rare circumstances.
Petersen said: “A Danish citizen could be searched in an extreme case if the municipality has a suspicion of fraud, but you need court permission to do so. For refugees, you would not need a court permission.”
A regional spokesman for the UN refugee agency, Zoran Stevanović, said: “Denmark has traditionally been an inspiration to others for setting human rights standards. However, rather than showing and providing solidarity and sanctuary, Denmark is focusing on developing and implementing individual and restrictive responses. UNHCR regrets that Denmark is introducing restrictions to its asylum policy rather than focusing on building and promoting a fair distribution of asylum seekers within all countries in the EU.
“The law introduces restrictive measures on asylum seekers that increasingly hinder their ability to apply for asylum in Denmark. We are particularly concerned by reduced social benefits and restricted access to family reunification. We are also concerned that refugees with temporary protection are only allowed to reside in Denmark for one year and yet are only able to apply for family reunification after three years.”
Denmark accepted about 20,000 asylum seekers in 2015 – 2% of the total to arrive in Europe last year.
To further deter future asylum seekers, Denmark also recently introduced more stringent border controls, forcing more potential asylum seekers back to Germany, which took in about 1.1 million migrants last year.