EU: Scenes from the "war on freedom and democracy"
01 November 2001
Reports from Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium and the UK
DENMARK
Asylum rights threatened by anti-terror legislation
A few days before losing November's general election social democratic Prime Minister, Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, presented a number of legal measures as the Danish contribution to the international fight against terrorism. Among the changes are several amendments to the Aliens Act, which will introduce fundamental changes in asylum procedure. Also, criminal justice legislation, the tax law and laws covered by the Public Finance ministry are to be amended following calls by the United Nations Security Council and the EU Commission.
Rasmussen's government will be replaced by a right-wing coalition comprising the Liberal Party (Venstre) and the Conservatives which will have a majority with the support of the extreme right Danish Peoples Party (Dansk Folkeparti). However, the new parliament will not change the main thrust of the anti?terrorist policy since both government and opposition supported the amendments during the election campaign.
The changes to the Aliens Act will alter the law in nine areas:
* "much stronger co?operation between asylum authorities and police and military intelligence services in asylum cases" with regards to the sharing and exchange of information;
* ensuring that the state prosecutor gets the necessary information to be able to decide whether or not to bring charges against a foreigner who has committed serious crimes before arriving in the country ? for example financing, planning or participating in acts of terrorism;
* a widening of the possibilities to expel a foreigner from the country in the interest of national security;
* changes to the exclusion clauses in the Aliens Act with regard to prohibiting foreigners who have committed serious crimes from staying in Denmark, as well as withdrawing permission already granted to a person who is discovered to have committed a serious crime;
* a narrowing of the use of the refoulement clauses in the Aliens Act, meaning that Denmark should not interpret them in a wider way than they are internationally;
* in instances where an asylum seeker has been rejected but cannot be send back to his home country because of fear of persecution, the case should be evaluated regularly to see if a way to expel him or her can be found. No time limit is set for the evaluation;
* introducing controls by having rejected asylum seekers report regularly to the police - where they do not they will be subject to imprisonment;
* wider use of fingerprints, both nationally and internationally;
* more foreigners will be entered into the Schengen Information System as unwanted aliens in the Schengen Area ? meaning that all foreigners whose asylum claims have been rejected under the Alien's Act will go on to the database.
The explanatory notes to the law, relating to cooperation between the intelligence services and asylum authorities, say that a special forum will be set up in which representatives from the national police force, the military, the Interior ministry, the Refugee Appeal Board and regional authorities will participate.
This forum "shall with short notice be able to take account of current intelligence needs". The police and the military intelligence shall have "insight into one or a group of cases, for instance all cases regarding certain nationalities or groups of cases within these nationalities" in order to protect the state. The amendments will make it legal to give the intelligence services access to all cases involving asylum, family reunification, visa applications to Denmark, cases withdrawing permission to stay and cases of expulsions. In short, the intelligence services will have full and complete access to all the personal details of foreigners, asylum seekers and refugees in the country.
When a threat to public order, security of the state or public health is found (or thought to be found), the asyl