Controversial Danish immigration bill to be passed

There is now nothing to stop the new Danish immigration bill being passed next Tuesday.

When the law comes into effect next week it will contain provisions to delay family reunifications for up to three years, allow the police to confiscate refugees valuables and cash exceeding DKK 10,000, and tighten already stringent permanent residency requirements.

The bill was being debated just as Foreign Minister Kristian Jensen was appearing before the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva defending the government’s refugee policy.

The UN refugee agency UNHCR has decried the bill, saying it ‘could fuel fear and xenophobia’ and may be in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the UN Refugee Convention.

Harder to obtain residency

The move to confiscate refugees’ cash and jewellery has created a stir abroad with media comparing it to ‘Nazi methods’ although legal experts in this country have voiced more concern about the rules that will make it harder to obtain family reunifications and residency permits.

universitypost@adm.ku.dk

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