Copying Denmark’s hardline asylum policy a ‘terrible idea’, Danes say

Helene Brydensholt of the The Alternative party has urged the UK Government to think again, explaining it’s been a disaster for integration and led to more racism

Britain copying Denmark’s “inhumane” hardline asylum policy is a “terrible idea” that will lead to more racism, Danish politicians have warned.

This month the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced a string of tough measures, inspired by Denmark, including ordering officials to stop being hesitant about kicking out families including children.

However, speaking to The Sunday MirrorDanish MPs condemned the proposals, and urged the UK to think again.

OPINION

Helene Brydensholt of the The Alternative party claimed it had led to more racism on the streets, Peder Hvelplund of The Red-Green Alliance branded it “inhumane”, while Torsten Gejl said if somebody called Muhammad applied for a job, he “possibly” wouldn’t get it because of his name.

Ms Brydensholt, who represents North Zealand, said: “I think it’s a terrible idea that the UK is copying our politics about refugees.

“First of all because it’s extremely bad for integration. If you’re making it very hard to get a citizenship, science tells us that that would influence the way that people integrate into a society. “One of the best ways to integrate people into the society is to give them citizenship so they feel like a full member of the society and of the country.”

Ms Brydensholt also warned the policy had done little to reduce racism in Denmark.

She said: “You can see it in the streets, you see more racism, you see more discrimination, because you make it sound OK that there are some people who have less value than others. “For humanitarian reasons, if you want to be true to the human rights conventions, and also if you want people to integrate into your society and Western society and be good neighbours, this is not the way to go.”

Ms Brydensholt also attacked plans to seize valuables including necklaces and chains, explaining the plan was so bad even the former Prime Minister Lars Løkke who came up with called it a mistake, and a “symbolic, stupid law”.

Mr Gejl, of the same party, claimed the policy had not been successful, and it created more chaos and more racism.

He said: “If somebody is called Muhammad, and he calls a business to get a job, he possibly won’t get it because he says his name is Muhammad.

“I’ve seen that in investigations that many employers are afraid to hire people who come from different countries and I think especially Muslim countries.

“The media and politicians in the past 30 years have said things that make Danes more and more uncomfortable with the immigrants. Now they have made people very afraid, and they get a lot of votes by saying that they want them out.

“If people with Muslim background does a crime, it’s on the front page of the media, if a Dane does it, it’s not.

“The harder the political parties are on immigrants, the more racist people become.

“They compete in being toughest to the immigrants, I’m not a professor but that’s just my opinion, that it creates racism, it creates chaos, it creates uncertainty, it creates anxiety, and it’s terrible.”

Mr Hvelplund, of The Red-Green Alliance, sits on the Immigration and Integration Committee, warned the policy in Denmark has “encouraged racism”, and urged the UK not to copy it.

He said: “Because the Social Democrats have left the belief in international conventions, there is now a race to the bottom.

“In the latest elections we’ve seen, we had an election here last week for the municipalities and the regions.

“The far right is gaining support and the Social Democrats are losing it. If the Labour Party wants to copy a strategy, they should learn from Denmark and not do as the Social Democrats do.

“The far-right has been strengthened because the new policy of the Social Democrats has made it acceptable to have these points of views, and that has encouraged the far-right to be even more far-right in their views”.

There were also warnings from the Danish Refugee Council, with the Head of Asylum Eva Singer explaining it had not quelled the far-right in Denmark.

She said: “They have said this in order to maintain the welfare state, we need to have fewer people coming and we need to keep the far right out of power, but I don’t know if you could say if it worked, because one of our far-right parties has in the past couple of weeks actually started this discussion about so-called remigration.

“It’s not a good path to follow because the refugees who have come to your country and you know they will be staying here, you might as well make sure that they have all the best conditions to learn the language, to get a job and to integrate well into our society.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “The Home Secretary announced the most sweeping reforms to tackle illegal migration in modern times which will make Britain a less attractive destination for illegal migrants and will make it easier to remove and deport them.”