Why does the UK want to model its immigration system on Denmark?
TThe home secretary is set to introduce the biggest asylum system overhaul of modern times next week, expected to be modeled on the Danish system.
Denmark has one of the toughest immigration systems in Europe and senior officials hope learning lessons from the Scandinavian country could help reduce the growing number of people arriving in the UK on small boats.
A delegation of senior officials traveled to Copenhagen last month to learn about their intervention and draw lessons that could be applied in the UK.
Why is the government turning its attention to Denmark?
The plan to copy Denmark comes as the government steps up efforts to reduce immigration in Britain and public anger over the issue grows.
It has been a difficult few months for the government, with the number of small boat crossings rising across the Channel and two migrants deported under Britain’s repatriation deal with France re-entering the country.
At Labour’s party conference in September, Shabana Mahmood promised to “do whatever it takes” to regain control of Britain’s borders; but the government has not yet been able to control the number of people making this dangerous crossing; The total number of people arriving in the UK by small boat this year reached 37,575 on 6 November.
The decision to look at the Danish system comes as part of a bid to reduce the “pull factors” that draw people to the UK and make it easier to remove those who do not have the right to stay.
Last year, the Danish government said it was approving a “historically” low number of asylum applications; It is said that this situation affected the interior minister.
The country’s approach to immigration and integration policy has reduced the number of asylum applications to the lowest figure in 40 years in 2024, while successfully removing 95 percent of rejected asylum seekers.
What policies can they implement?
While the Home Office has not yet commented on specific policies, authorities are thought to be examining Denmark’s stricter rules on family reunification and considering restricting most asylum seekers from staying in the country temporarily.
While refugees who are targets of a foreign regime are likely to be protected in Denmark, most people granted asylum are only allowed to stay in the country temporarily.
Once a country is deemed safe, the Danish government has the power to withdraw or refuse to renew protection, even if the person has been resident for several years.
Denmark also imposes conditions on people seeking settlement, such as full-time employment.
Home Office officials are also said to be reviewing the country’s stricter rules on family reunification, which include a minimum age of 24 for refugees applying for their partners to join them, a move designed to guard against forced marriages.
The person who is granted a residence permit in Denmark must not have requested assistance for three years. They need to provide a financial guarantee and both partners must pass a Danish language test.
Denmark also takes a tough approach to integration, with a law allowing the state to demolish apartment blocks in areas where at least half of the residents are from a “non-Western” background. A senior adviser to the EU’s top court concluded it was discriminatory on the basis of ethnicity.
Refugees living in these public housing will not be able to benefit from family reunification.
While the UK government is not expected to go this far in emulating Denmark’s immigration system, the government is likely to learn lessons from this aspect of the system as part of its bid to increase integration in Britain.
Denmark’s strict immigration policies also cause problems for large companies; companies are pushing ministers to address labor shortages. This summer, the Danish government proposed reforms aimed at expanding access to work permits for citizens of 16 non-EU countries and reducing minimum wage requirements.
The Home Secretary is said to believe the UK is becoming a preferred destination for “asylum shoppers”. But this view has been criticized by the charity Refugee Council, which says many people seek asylum in Britain because they “speak some English or have long-standing ties to help them rebuild their lives safely”.
Home Secretary Mike Tapp said on Thursday: “We will plan for people to come here and make it less attractive to reduce the refugee exchange that we see in Europe.
“What we are seeing is an abuse of the legal system, they are using it against us, this is unacceptable.”
He added that the government was “really keen to make sure the ECHR is fit for purpose”.
How did Labor MPs react?
Labor MPs are divided on the move; Some MPs in red-walled seats appear vulnerable to Reform England wanting ministers to go further in the Danish direction. Others believe the policies will alienate progressive voters and push the party to the far right.
Left-wing MP Nadia Whittome, a member of the party’s Socialist Campaign Group group, called against imitating the Danish model, arguing it was extremist.
“I think it’s a moral, political and electoral dead end… I think these are the policies of the far right. I don’t think anyone wants to see a Labor government flirting with them,” he told BBC Radio 4. Today program.
Clive Lewis, meanwhile, accused the government of imitating the Reformation in its attempt to curb immigration.
“When a progressive party adopts the logic of its opponents, that immigrants are a threat, that order must come before rights, that the job of the state is to govern people, not empower them, it normalizes authoritarian right, not neutralizes it,” he said.
“The result is not a strong or just society, but an increasingly authoritarian society in which the government is strong enough to punish but too weak to care.
“Secure borders, open safe routes, democratize migration, operate an effective asylum system, and invest in well-funded, universal public services/housing.”
But Stoke-on-Trent Central MP Gareth Snell said any changes that would bring “fairness” to an asylum system that his constituents “distrust” were “worth exploring”.
He said it was “worth looking at the best practices from our sister parties around the world where they have managed to find practical solutions” on migration management.
