Migration law in Denmark is a multi-layered, complex and thorny area of law. Not only are legal sources scattered across several national and international legal texts, but frequent legal amendments have also rendered the framework incoherent. Migration policy initiatives introduce only ad hoc solutions to the challenges of envisioning a unified Danish national and cultural identity. This article reviews the broader context for and the perspective on migration to Denmark. The most recent trend has been to restrict asylum seekers’ access to the country while seeking to encourage the arrival of highly skilled migrants. This legal analysis highlights the problem of reconciling Denmark’s past progressive and humanitarian approach with the restrictive policy line currently being pursued.
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Council Decision 2006/188/EC of 21 February 2006 on the conclusion of the Agreement between the European Community and the Kingdom of Denmark, which rendered the provisions of Council Regulation (EC) No. 343/2003 applicable in Denmark. This established the criteria and mechanisms for determining which Member State would be responsible for examining an asylum application lodged by a third country national in one of the Member States. Council Regulation (EC) No 2725/2000 also established Eurodac to enable the comparison of fingerprints for the effective application of the Dublin Convention.
See Fig. 1: Which authority handles which case?Aliens Consolidation Act (Bekendtgørelse af udlændingeloven) LBK No. 1022 of 02/10/2019 subsequently referred to in the text as ‘Aliens Act’. The article reflects the state of the law as of 3 January 2019.
Bekendtgørelse af lov om integration af udlændinge i Danmark (Integrationsloven), LBK no. 01 of 01/01/2020.
Bekendtgørelse af lov om aktiv socialpolitik (Aktivloven), LBK No. 981 of 23/09/2019.Bekendtgørelse af lov om forbud mod forskelsbehandling på arbejdsmarkedet m.v. (Forskelsbehandlingsloven), LBK No. 1001 of 24/08/2017.
Bekendtgørelse af lov om ligestilling af kvinder og mænd (Ligestillingsloven), LBK No. 1678 of 19/12/2013.
Bekendtgørelse af lov om en aktiv beskæftigelsesindsats, LBK No. 548 of 07/05/2019. See Table 1: Overview of recently granted permissions to stay. This Section, and Sects. 2.3, 2.4, and 2.5, have been updated and adapted from Adamo (2009). Section 2 (b) of the Aliens Act.Council Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 of 15 March 2001, listing the third countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing the external borders and those whose nationals are exempt from that requirement.
Regulation (EC) No 810/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 establishing a Community Code on Visas.
The visa code was implemented in Danish law by means of Act No. 1511 of 27.12.2009 amending the Aliens Act (om ændring af udlændingeloven—gennemførelse af forordning om en fælleskodeks for visum—visumkodeks—mv.).
Regulation (EC) No 767/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 July 2008 concerning the Visa Information System (VIS) and the exchange of data between Member States on short-stay visa. The system has been in operation in Danish embassies and consulates since 11.10.2011.
In Denmark, the first Memorandum from the Ministry of Refugee, Immigration and Integration Affairs from 29 September 2004 (Notat om visumpraksis gældende fra den 1. oktober 2004) was amended many times, and the latest Memorandum was drafted in 2013 (Notat om visumpraksis gældende fra den 15. januar 2013 som ændret den 1. december 2013).
Memorandum on Visa Administration (2013), 4–5. For the development in the last 5 years, see Table 2: Main figures for decisions on visas.The rules on residence for EU citizens in Denmark can be found in the Ministerial Order Bekendtgørelse om ophold i Danmark for udlændinge, der er omfattet af Den Europæiske Unions regler—(EU-opholdsbekendtgørelsen) BEK no. 318 of 27/03/2019.
Council Directive 2003/86/EC of 22 September 2003 on the right to family reunification, OJ L 251 of 03/10/2003. The express purpose of the Directive is to harmonise national legislation in the European Union, in order to ensure fair treatment of third country nationals and to develop a more intensive integration policy for immigrants lawfully residing in the EU by means of active and uniform protection of the right to family reunification.
A pro forma marriage is where there is reason to suspect that the marriage or the cohabiting relationship was established with the main objective of achieving a residence permit. A forced marriage is defined as a marriage entered into against the wishes of one or both parties.
Draft bill LF 152 2001/2. Amount required in 2015, but the rate is adjusted on an annual basis.Violence includes rape, cf. the Danish Criminal Act, Section 216, manslaughter, cf. the Danish Criminal Act, Section 237, simple and aggravated assault, cf. the Danish Criminal Act, Sections 244–246, coercion, including forced marriages, cf. the Danish Criminal Act, Section 260, confinement, cf. the Danish Criminal Act, Section 261, and human trafficking, cf. the Danish Criminal Act, Section 262a.
In 2016, the rule on the attachment requirement, which could once be waived in case the applicant had held Danish citizenship or permanent residency in the country for at least 26 years, was amended after the ruling of the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights in Biao v. Denmark (Application no. 38590/10).
Section 11(a) prohibits marriage between foreigners who do not possess a legal residence permit (e.g. asylum seekers in Denmark who are awaiting a decision on their application), while Section 11 (b) requires that both parties are aware of the rules of the Aliens Act on family reunification before they marry. These provisions do not apply to Nordic or Union citizens. Formation and Dissolution of Marriage Act No. 1818 of 23/12/2015(Lovbekendtgørelse om ægteskabets indgåelse og opløsning—Ægteskabsloven), as modified by Act No. 365 of 06/06/2002 and Act No. 324 of 18/05/2005. For a critical review of the regulation of migrants’ legal status via the laws on marriage, see Kronborg (2005).
Cf. Case C-60/00, Mary Carpenter v. Home Secretary, ECLI:EU:C:2002:434; Case C-370/90, R v Immigration Appeal Tribunal et Surinder Singh, ex parte Home Secretary, ECLI:EU:C:1992:296; Case C-356/98, Kaba v the Home Secretary, ECLI:EU:C:2000:200; Case C-109/01, Akrich, ECLI:EU:C:2003:491, the range of which was extended by the ECJ in 2008, cf. Case C-127/08 Blaise Baheten Metock and Others v Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, ECLI:EU:C:2008:449. For a commentary on these judgments, see Broberg and Holst-Christensen (2007).
Cf. for example, Case C-60/00, Carpenter v Secretary of State for the Home Department ECLI:EU:C:2002:434, which may be significant for the general interpretation of Article 8 ECHR.
Protection of family reunification under EU law can be advantageous for recently naturalised individuals, for whom it is difficult to fulfil the attachment requirement in the Aliens Act, or for ex-refugees who may not have been active in the labour market and, therefore, cannot fulfil the self-sufficiency requirement (Aliens Act).
Articles 10-11 of Regulation (EEC) No. 1612/68 of the Council of 15 October 1968, now replaced by Directive 2004/38/EC of 29 April 2004.
As this article does not specifically concern the issue of family reunification, which is described here simply to pinpoint an important aspect of migrants’ legal status, I will not develop the analysis any further (which would otherwise require a review of the administrative practice).
The Danish Center for Human Rights (2004).Cf. the concerns expressed in the Report by Mr. Alvaro Gil-Robles on his visit to Denmark, 6–12. The resulting Memorandum of the Ministry of Refugee, Immigration and Integration Affairs from 22 September 2004 concluded that the Danish law did not violate the international human rights obligations.
E/C.12/1/Add.102 of 14 December 2004, Consideration of reports submitted by State Parties under Articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant. The concluding observations encourage considering ‘alternative means of combating the phenomenon of forced marriage involving immigrant women’ and taking ‘appropriate measures to either repeal or amend the so-called 24-year rule’ (recommendation no. 29).
The policy agreement, ‘New Times. New Requirements’, was signed in November 2010 by the Government and the Danish People’s Party, the right-wing party, which is mostly opposed to immigration from non-Western countries. In June 2011, the bill passed into law the Act on the Amendment of Aliens Act and Formation and Dissolution of Marriage Act (Lov om ændring af udlændingeloven og lov om ægteskabs indgåelse og opløsning) LOV No. 601 of 14/06/2011).
Sixty points if both spouses were over 24 years of age, or 120 points if one or both were under 24 years of age.
The basis for family reunification with children can be found in the Aliens Act, Article 9 (1) No. 2.
Case law in this matter is scarce, but there are three judgements (U.2010.1590H; U.2010.1599H; and U.2010.1608H) where the Danish Supreme Court found that the Ministry of Integration had applied the successful integration requirement within the limits of its discretionary power and not in breach of either the European Convention on Human Rights or the Convention on the Rights of the Children. Cf. also Adamo (2016b).
Bill L 171, 2003/1, 20.02.2004, Sections 3-3.3. Case C-561/14, Caner Genc v Integrationsministeriet, ECLI:EU:C:2016:247.See Table 3: Main Figures in the Area of Family Reunification. Also see Table 4: Recent Figures, Family Reunification.
Section 1 of the Aliens Act.Other documents, such as a drivers’ licence or bank card, can be presented upon request for identification.
Section 3 of the Citizenship Consolidation Act (Bekendtgørelse af lov om dansk indfødsret), LBK No. 1029 of 10/07/2018.
Sections 2-3 of the Aliens Act.Cf., for example, Case C-60/00, Carpenter v Secretary of State for the Home Department, ECLI:EU:C:2002:434, which may have significance for the general interpretation of Article 8 ECHR.
Article 217 TFEU (previously Article 310 TEC).Article 9 of the Agreement refers directly to the prohibition against discrimination on the grounds of nationality in the Treaty establishing the European Community. Turkish citizens constitute the largest immigrant group in the EU countries.
See Table 5: Recently Granted EU/EEA Residence Cards, per Category. Section 7 (1) of the Aliens Act. Section 7 (2) of the Aliens Act. Section 8 of the Aliens Act.Applying criteria that were previously introduced and later repealed by means of Law No. 403 of 01/06/2005.
Bill No. 80 of 08.11.2017, Ændring af udlændingeloven (kvoteordning). Section 9 (b) of the Aliens Act. Section 7 (3) of the Aliens Act. My translation, Article 1 in Act No. 153 of 18. February 2015. See Table 6: Overview of Main Figures, Asylum.See Table 7: Residence Permits in the Area of Work Permit. Also see Table 8: Residence Permits in the Area of Studies.
The provisions on the job scheme are to be found in § 9 a of the Aliens Act. A detailed description of the various schemes can be found on the Danish Immigration Service website at nyidanmark.dk/en-us/coming_to_dk/work/work.htm. See also Starup (2012), pp. 255–277.
By means of Act No. 1488 of 23.12.2014.The Green Card scheme was one of the legal schemes targeted by the 2015 change and revoked since the scheme was not working as intended as most of the recipients of the permit did not find a job that matched their skills and qualifications and experienced a number of hurdles in the Danish labour market. Rambøll (2010).
The list currently includes specialists such as engineers, health professionals, managers in different fields, legal professionals, teachers at all school levels, programmers and system developers, etc. The list is revised approximately once a year. For the 2017 list, see nyidanmark.dk/en-us/coming_to_dk/work/positivelist/positive_list_overview.htm.
Easy access to residence and working permits are also granted to herders and farm managers in agriculture and for workers on oil rigs, drillships and other moveable workstations temporarily situated on Danish territory.
According to the first version of this system, workers intending to remain in Denmark after a period of 3 years had to pay back the difference between reduced and full taxation; this induced many workers to leave the country once the favourable tax reduction no longer applied to them. The rules were changed as of 1 January 2011 in order to counter this trend. Today, foreign workers do not have to repay the taxes if they intend to stay; however, the transition from a very favourable tax rate to the regular Danish income taxation after 5 years is still a problem for the retention of foreign professionals. It is, therefore, a double-edged sword, in that while it succeeds in attracting highly skilled workers to Denmark, it fails to retain them. The tax system for researchers is regulated by the Act on Taxation at Source (Kildeskatteloven) §§ 48 E-F, cf. Act No. 1403 of 07.12.2010 as amended by § 1 in Act No. 1565 of 21.12.2010 and § 5 in Act No. 792 of 28.06.2013.
i.e., with the marriage of the parents of a newborn.Adopted on 5 June 1953, Section 44 (2) establishes that: ‘The extent of the right of aliens to become owners of real property shall be laid down by statute’.
In the Constitutional Act, there are no limits to legislature’s powers, and there is no impediment to the possibility of establishing via the law that citizenship can be obtained automatically upon verification of the fulfilment of certain legal criteria. Cf. Kleis (2006), p. 327.
Citizenship Consolidation Act (Bekendtgørelse af lov om dansk indfødsret), LBK no. 422 of 07/06/2004.
Citizenship Consolidation Act, Sections 1-2. Citizenship Consolidation Act, Section 1 (2). Citizenship Consolidation Act, Section 2a. Citizenship Consolidation Act, Section 3. CIS 9779 of 14/09/2018 (Cirkulæreskrivelse om naturalisation).Sections 1-2 of the Citizenship Consolidation Act. For a description of the preparatory materials to the sections, although referring to the previous Consolidation Act, for the relevant sections still in force, see: Kleis and Beckman (2004), pp. 40–45.
Section 2 of the Citizenship Consolidation Act.By means of Section 1 of Act No. 1018 of 23/12/1998 (Lov om ændring af lov om dansk indfødsret, lov om offentlig auktion ved auktionsledere og lov om vagtvirksomhed). Cf. also Bill 1998/1 LF 69.
Kleis and Beckman (2004), p. 44.Countries that have ratified the UN Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness are obliged to grant birthright citizenship to foundlings found on their territory as the child would otherwise be stateless. Article 2 UN Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness from 1961 states: ‘A foundling found in the territory of a Contracting State shall, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be considered to have been born within that territory of parents possessing the nationality of that State’.
Section 1 (2) of Citizenship Consolidation Act. Kleis and Beckman (2004), pp. 42–43. Section 1 (1) of Citizenship Consolidation Act.The Citizenship Consolidation Act was amended by means of Act No. 326 of 04/06/1986, which amended the Act on Adoptions and the Citizenship Act.
Circular on the acquisition of Danish citizenship for foreign adopted children (Cirkulære om erhvervelse af dansk indfødsret for udenlandske adoptivbørn), CIRK No. 164 of 03/10/1986.
Section 2A was amended in 1997 to ratify the Hague Convention of 29 May 1993 on the Protection of Children and on Cooperation in International Adoptions. Act No. 233 of 02/04/1997 amending the Act on Adoptions, the Citizenship Act and the Name Act.
Cf. Section 28 (2) of the Consolidation Act on Adoptions (Bekendtgørelse af lov om adoption), LBK No. 1084 of 07/10/2014.
Articles 3 and 4 in the Citizenship Consolidation Act. Article 1 (4) and (5).The authorities assumed that affiliation to Denmark could be strong enough to grant citizenship even if the applicant was not born on Danish soil if the 10 years of required residence occurred in the early years when the child was of school age. The national law commission on the subject stressed that it was easier to establish a connection with the Danish society during childhood and the schooling years.
According to the previous Article 3 in the 2003 Citizenship Act (Citizenship Consolidation Act No. 113 of 20/02/2003), foreigners between ages 18 and 23 would be granted citizenship by lodging an application with the competent administrative authority if they had resided in Denmark for a period of a total of 10 years (hence at least 5 out of the last 6 years).
See Table 9: Decisions on Applications for Naturalisation per Year (2001–2009) and Table 10: Number of Individuals Naturalised by Law (Act of the Parliament).
Cirkulæreskrivelse om naturalisation, CIS No. 9779 of 14/09/2018. Chapter 1 of CIS No. 10873 of 13/10/2015, Introduction (Indledning).Earlier, the place of birth was also indicated, cf. Act No. 1 of 11/03/1987 (Lov om indfødsrets meddelelse).
See e.g. 1st reading of Bill L 52 2008 (1. behandling af L 52, 23/1 08 FF1144) 2007-08, 2. samling—L 52 BEH1, 23/01/08.
Other categories of individuals who require shorter periods of residence: Nordic citizens (2 years); foreigners married to a Danish national (6–8 years); children living in Denmark before they reach the age of 15 can apply after they become 18 if they took a Danish education course; and, finally, foreigners who have studied in Denmark for at least 3 years (5 years requirement).
Chapter 3 in Ministerial Order on Education and ‘Activation’ of Asylum Seekers (Bekendtgørelse om undervisning og aktivering m.v. af asylansøgere m.fl.), BEK No. 497 of 03/05/2010.
See Table 11: Regional Quotas for the Distribution of Refugees as of 24 October 2016.Municipal authorities have the power to refuse persons on basic welfare (or the previous start-up help) access to housing that are usually offered to low-income persons by the same authority. This is because low-income immigrants or refugees, in recent years, were accommodated in the same neighbourhood. The government policy is underpinned by the presumption that migrants in such areas are ‘not in contact with Danish language and culture’ and that this presumably hinders their ‘social and ethnic integration’, cf. government integration policy action: ‘A new chance for everyone’ (Danish Government 2005).
Consolidation Act on the Integration of Foreigners in Denmark (Bekendtgørelse af lov om integration af udlændinge i Danmark) LBK No. 01 of 01/01/2020 and Ministerial Order on drafting of contract and self-sufficiency and repatriation program or the integration programme in the Integration Act (Bekendtgørelse om udarbejdelse af kontrakt og om selvforsørgelses- og hjemrejseprogrammet eller introduktionsprogrammet efter integrationsloven) BEK No. 911 of 30/08/2019.
Section 1 of the Integration Act.Section 3 of the Ministerial Order on Individual Contracts and the Orientation Programme in the Integration Act.
Cf. Sections 19 (5) & 32 of the Integration Act. The consequences of not respecting the conditions of the Integration Contract must be clearly stated in the contract itself, cf. Section 14 of the Ministerial Order on Individual Contracts and Orientation Programme in the Integration Act.
Section 11 (9) 1 of the Aliens Act.A thorough study of the migratory movements to Denmark can be found in Østergaard (2007), Blüdnikow (1987), Sane (2000) and Feldbæk (1991).
Østergaard (2007), pp. 307–309. In fact, in the modern sense of the term, refugees must apply only from 1921 onwards, cr. Gammeltoft-Hansen (1984) Flygtningeret, 37. In 1921, the League of Nations appointed the first High Commissioner for Refugees, mostly Russian refugees.
Private (political or religious) welfare organisations supported refugees who did not qualify for a permanent residence permit. Cf. Østergaard (2007), pp. 310–311.
Østergaard (2007), p. 315. Østergaard (2007), pp. 323–324.Østergaard (2007), pp. 329–330. Many refugees from France, Belgium, and Poland were sent home or, in the case of the Baltic States, to third countries and/or to the Soviet Union; of around 30,000 refugees of non-German origin, only a thousand remained in Denmark, cf. ibid., 332.
Østergaard (2007), pp. 333–338. Until 1983, when the first fully fledged Aliens Act was enforced (the Aliens Act from 1953 was an authorisation act to enforce administrative regulations), around 10,000 refugees arrived in Denmark from the aforementioned countries, cf. ibid., 342.
See Table 12: Historic Overview of Refugees in Denmark according to the Old Categorisation. Østergaard (2007), p. 346.Act of 08/11/1970 introduced a temporary moratorium on immigration, made permanent in the Act of 29/11/1973; cf. Sane (2000), p. 10.
Vested-Hansen (2006). Østergaard (2007), pp. 355–356.Østergaard adds that including the approximately 10,000 refugees currently residing in the country, the total number of the foreign population at that time was not considered ‘alarming’, cf. ibid., 362.
Act No. 226 of 08/06/1983.Gammeltoft-Hansen (1984), pp. 112, 119 and 128. Where the legal set-up was developed in a restrictive sense, this was to prevent the abuse of the rules, see ibid., 111.
Ibid., 124–125.Ibid.,121 and 132. The status of F-refugee (de facto refugee) had been introduced by means of administrative practice in 1965, cf. ibid., 135.
The particular legal situation of stateless Palestinians from Lebanon was decided by Act No. 144 of 03/03/1992 (Lov om opholdstilladelse for statsløse palæstinensere fra Libanon); Section 1 granted permission to stay to those asylum applicants who had been residents in Denmark for more than 1 year and not secured a different legal ground to remain.
A steady stream of Tamils arrived from Sri Lanka, and at one point they were at the centre of the only case of ministerial misconduct registered so far in Denmark. The minister responsible for the administration of their family reunification applications was convicted of having ignored the cases in 1995. For more details on the infamous Tamil case, see (Tamil-sagen) cf. Østergaard, Indvandrerne i Danmarks historie, 370–372.
Around 9000 Bosnians arrived in Denmark in 1992. The large number of asylum seekers made an individual procedure for every application impossible, in response to which a general law was passed (Act No. 933 of 28/11/1992, Lov om midlertidig opholdstilladelse til visse personer fra det tidligere Jugoslavien m.v.), which gave the Bosnian applicants temporary permission to stay until the situation in their home country had stabilised. See ibid., 374–378. As the conflict went on, in 1995, it was decided that the asylum applications of those applicants who had been residing on the basis of temporary permit for 2 years would be reviewed, cf. Act No. 34 of 18/01/1995 (Lov om ændring af lov om midlertidig opholdstilladelse til visse personer fra det tidligere Jugoslavien m.v., udlændingeloven og lov om social bistand - Behandling af asylansøgninger fra personer fra det tidligere Jugoslavien med midlertidig opholdstilladelse m.v.), consolidated in Act (lovbekendtgørelse) No. 563 af 30/06/1995 and eventually abrogated by Act No. 1044 of 17/12/2002.
Act No. 251 of 28/04/1999 (Lov om midlertidig opholdstilladelse til nødstedte fra Kosovoprovinsen i Forbundsrepublikken Jugoslavien - Kosovonødloven), abrogated by Act No. 427 of 31/05/2000.
Act No. 474 of 01/07/1998 (Lov om integration af udlændinge i Danmark - integrationslov), with subsequent amendments.
Østergaard (2007), p. 524 (my translation).In 1999, 6.8% (363,422) were foreigners and naturalised citizens, while the total number of immigrants and descendants as of January 2013 stood at 600,674. Cf. Danish Ministry of Refugee, Immigration and Integration Affairs (2007), 75, Annex 18 and Danish Ministry of Justice, Immigration Service, Ministry of Employment (2017), 78, Annex 273. Source: Danmarks Statistik (https://www.dst.dk/da/).
Gammeltoft-Hansen and Whyte (2011), p. 160.Dansk Erhverv (2009); DJØF (Society for law and economics graduates, including business economics and political and social sciences graduates) (2010); The Danish Society of Engineers, IDA (2011).
Agreement on Citizenship (Aftale om Indfødsret) concluded by the government—The Liberal Party (Venstre) and the Conservative Popular Party (Det Konservative Folkeparti)—and the Danish People’s Party (Dansk Folkeparti), 8 December 2005 and 22 September 2008. The agreements were part of the previous Circular on Naturalisation, CIR No. 61 of 22/09/2008, Guidelines for naturalisation (Retningslinjer for naturalisation).
Sections 23 and 24 of the previous circular on naturalisation, CIS No. 9 of 12/01/2006.For example, if dual citizenship is obtained at birth and the parents hold different nationalities, or if the child is born abroad to Danish parents and the country allows citizenship by jus soli.
Sweden changed its rules on citizenship in 2001 to allow multiple citizenship, Finland in 2003, Belgium in 2007, Germany has, since 2007, accepted the multiple citizenship of EU citizens; and, finally, Luxembourg changed its rules in 2008. Multiple citizenship status is also accepted in the legal systems of France, Italy, Great Britain, the USA, Australia, and Canada. Cf. Report from the Ministry of Integration of 24 April 2009 for the Naturalisation Committee, Annex 65 to Bill B55, Annex 11 (Udredning om reglerne for dobbelt statsborgerskab i Danmark, i andre lande og i forhold til internationale konventioner Indfødsretsudvalget, Indfødsretsudvalget—IFU alm. del—Bilag 65, B 55—Bilag 11).
Danish Government (2011). Danish Ministry of Justice (2014a), pp. 8–9.Danish Government (2011):‘Denmark is a modern society in an international world. Therefore, it shall be possible to have dual citizenship’ (my translation), p. 55.
Bill L 152, Written presentation statement (Skriftlig fremsættelse, 28 February 2002), 2001/2 SF, L 152. The third objective of the immigration policy, as framed in 2002, was to integrate the refugees and immigrants who were already in the country and to motivate them to seek employment. Cf. Kjær (2004).
Henriksen (2004). Cf. also further comment in Kjær (2004).The Danish Refugee Council assessed 3 years of practice in this area, concluding that two groups of refugees, in particular, those who had been granted a residence permit before 2002, would no longer be recognised as refugees. These two groups are Somali nationals fleeing war-ravaged territories (98% of whom were granted residence permits in 2001, with only 12% being granted such permits in 2004) and traumatised persons who have been tortured or sexually assaulted in the past in a country where the political situation has now stabilised. Cf. publication Artikel 1 a (Danish Refugee Council 2005).
Written presentation of Bill 79, 2004/2 SF. L 79 (Skriftlig fremsættelse), 23 February 2005; Report on Bill 79B, by the Standing Parliamentary Committee for immigration and integration, 2004/2 BTL 79 (Betænkning over Forslag til lov om ændring af lov om danskuddannelse til voksne udlændinge m.fl., integrationsloven og udlændingeloven), 3 May 2005.
Hathaway (2005), pp. 4–6.Bill No. 141 of 26/02/2014 (Ændring af udlændingeloven—Ændring af kriterierne for udvælgelse af kvoteflygtninge).
The so-called ‘starthjælp’ was regulated by the Active Social Policy Act and by the Integration Act.Since the rules also apply to Danish citizens who came back to live in the country after a long period of residence abroad, the Government argued that they were not discriminatory. The Danish Refugee Council and UNHCR disagreed: they criticised the starting help as being in violation of Article 23 of the Refugee Convention. The Article prescribes that ‘The Contracting States shall accord to refugees lawfully staying in their territory the same treatment with respect to public relief and assistance as is accorded to their nationals’. The Danish Refugee Council argued that the poverty resulting from the lack of real work opportunities created a new proletariat group and placed refugees in Denmark in a weaker position than in the rest of Europe.
As of 15 July 2017, a ‘counting’ animation on the website of the Ministry of Immigration and Integration (uim.dk) links to a list of all the rules that have either been recently introduced or amended since the latest Minister has taken office (uim.dk/gennemforte-stramninger-pa-udlaendingeomradet).
Ministry of Immigration, Integration and Housing (2016), p. 2.Lov nr. 102 of 03/02/2016 om ændring af udlændingeloven, bill nr. L87 of 26/01/2016 (Forslag til lov om ændring af udlændingeloven).
The ‘jewellery law’ was used four times in the first year it was enforced: dr.dk/nyheder/politik/et-aar-med-omstridt-smykkelov-politiet-har-brugt-den-fire-gange.
Article 36 (Sections 1 & 6) in the Aliens Act, introduced by Act No. 1273 of 20.11.2015. See Act No. 189 of 27.02.2017 (Bill No. 51 2016).Folketingets Ombudsmand, ’Adskilt indkvartering af mindreårige gifte eller samlevende asylansøgere’, Endelig redegørelse, Dok.nr. 16/02113-51/SH, 23-03-2017.
See Act No. 1743 of 27.12.2016. The list can be accessed at nyidanmark.dk/en-us/coming_to_dk/religious-workers/the_national_sanction_list/.
Gammeltoft-Hansen and Whyte (2011), p. 152 ff.
