For the first time in nearly a decade, Denmark saw more people with refugee backgrounds leave the country than enter it in 2019, according to an analysis by the Ministry of Immigration and Integration.
The number of refugees leaving Denmark were largely made up of those from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iraq, Somalia and Syria, while those migrating here mostly came from Afghanistan, Eritrea, and Iran – for a net loss of approximately 730 refugees.
The immigration and integration minister, Mattias Tesfaye, said they were “lovely numbers”, telling DR that “it shows, in part, that we can keep the influx at bay by pursuing sensible policy in Denmark.”
When questioned by DR whether the net loss means that Denmark can accommodate more UN quota refugees, the minister explained that the law states they must make that decision this summer and that “we have not made any decision at all yet.”
Since 1989, Denmark has been receiving about 500 UN quota refugees per year – but the scheme was halted by the Danish government in 2015 following the Refugee Crisis and subsequent collapse of the European asylum system.
In 2019, Denmark began to receive quota refugees again, though on a smaller scale than before.
Some have argued that the net loss is attributable more to external factors at play than Danish government policies.
Eva Singer, the asylum manager at the Danish Refugee Council, told DR that it is not because there are fewer refugees in the world.
“On the contrary, this is because refugees have a harder time coming to Denmark for various reasons,” she said.
Chief among them, she cites, is the EU-Turkey agreement to close the border at Turkey to migrants and not allow for further travel into Europe.
SOURCE: Copenhagen Post
