DENMARK voted to offshore refugee processing today in a move condemned by human rights campaigners, the UN High Commission for Refugees and the European Union.
The country’s unicameral parliament voted 70-24 to authorise the government to set up an asylum-processing centre in a third country, thought most likely to be in Africa.
The country’s Immigration Minister, Mattias Tesfaye, said that talks were underway with “a handful of countries” over establishing such a centre. Rwanda has been identified as a potential base.
Social Democrat Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen campaigned on a platform of Denmark having “zero asylum-seekers.”
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees said the policy which would involve shipping refugees who reach Denmark to the third country while their asylum applications are processed was part of a “frightening race to the bottom” on immigration across Europe.