Denmark: Denmark's tough new asylum stance
01 January 1991
Denmark: Denmark's tough new asylum stance
artdoc July=1994
Review of application and appeals procedure
The Home Secretary has put forward proposals to tighten Denmark's
asylum laws. The proposals centre on reviewing the time spent on
handling asylum applications and restricting the rules governing
the right to appeal. In relation to the later, if an appeal is
rejected outright, an asylum-seeker will be immediately deported
instead of being allowed to stay in the country while the appeal
is pending (Jyllands-Posten 11.2.94).
More officers to deal with backlog
In 1993, the Directorate for Appeals employed an extra 100
members of staff to deal with a backlog of asylum applications.
But according to the authorities, the backlog does not seem to
be decreasing, due to the fact that in 1993, despite tougher
visa regulations, a record 17,063 asylum-seekers entered the
country, a 23 per cent rise on 1992. 11,000 asylum-seekers were
from Bosnia-Herzegovina (Jyllands-Posten 9.1.93, 1.2.94).
Crisis in asylum centres
The government has had to increase the number of places for
asylum-seekers in DenmarkØs 134 asylum centres. Previously, Home
Secretary Birte Weiss wrote to 84 district authorities, advising
them that urgent measures may well be needed to accommodate
14,000 new asylum-seekers should the government fail to find
suitable accommodation for them by the end of February. The mayor
of Skanderborg, Aleksander Aagaard, took offence to Birte Weiss'
letter. `It is unnecessary to come with threats' he said. `We
have always been ready to take our part of the responsibility'.
Meanwhile, according to the Danish Red Cross, one out of every
five asylum-seekers disappear from centres. `Many are tired of
waiting and feel that they vegetate in the asylum-centres' said
a spokesperson for the Danish Red Cross (Jyllands-Posten
22.12.93, 5.1.94).
New package for `violent' asylum-seekers
Another government proposal, already taking effect, is for
tougher measures against `violent and criminal asylum-seekers'.
Thirty-five asylum-seekers were deported in the space of a week,
while the cases of another 46 were being reviewed (Jyllands-
Posten 9.1.93). While the government has promised that no more
asylum-seekers will be kept in Danish prisons after 1 April, they
have also taken steps to create a special centre run by the
prison service to imprison asylum-seekers considered to be
violent . Places in the closed wing of Sandholm camp, where
asylum-seekers who arrive in the country without papers are kept
while applications are considered and proof of identification
is investigated, have also been increased. But before the plans
to established a special centre can be brought into effect, the
government must investigate whether the law needs to be changed.
`As the law stands, we cannot imprison people who are not
criminal', said Birte Weiss. It seems that many Red Cross
employees have made it clear that they do not feel equipped to
deal with asylum-seekers who are violent (Jyllands-Posten
23.12.93, 29.1.94).
Repatriation programme
Twelve asylum-seekers started a hunger strike in December `93 to
protest at the governmentØs classification of Afghanistan as a
safe country and its decision to return asylum-seekers. In 1993,
162 Afghanis sought asylum in Denmark, bringing the total number
in the country to 1,000 (Jyllands-Posten 16,17.12.93). Meanwhile,
the government has increased its cash incentive to those refugees
who have been in Denmark for a minimum of three years and who
wish to accept voluntary repatriation (Jyllands-Posten
4.2.94).Protest Church solidarity grows A Church minister, A.O.
Anderson has threatened priests with the sack if they conceal
asylum-seekers faced with deportation. His warning comes after
reports that `Refugees Underground', an organisation which gives
rejected asylum-seekers legal assistance, has established an
effective church network throu