Copenhagen, Jan 27: Denmark’s Parliament passed a controversial law on Tuesday that allows authorities to seize valuables and cash from refugees.
The measure was part of a larger immigration bill, and its approval seemed certain after the government reached a parliamentary majority for it earlier this month.
Much has been written about this small aspect of Europe’s current tendencies to oppose illegal immigration. But while the law applies strictly to Denmark, it could have consequences in other European countries in the future.The government has said that passing the law was the right thing to do and was meant to help pay for refugees’ expenses. But critics continue to disagree.
The Danish government has repeatedly argued that the bill has largely been misunderstood abroad. Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen even called it the “most misunderstood law” in the country’s history.
The U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) recently said the law “could fuel fear, xenophobia and similar restrictions that would reduce — rather than expand — the asylum space globally and put refugees in need at life-threatening risks.”
A spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Stephane Dujarric, criticized the decision.
“People who have suffered tremendously, who have escaped war and conflict, who’ve literally walked hundreds of kilometers if not more and put their lives at risk by crossing the Mediterranean should be treated with compassion and respect, and within their full rights as refugees,” Dujarric said.
The first criticism of the bill came from Danes themselves and initially had little impact.
