UK looks to Denmark to shake up immigration system – one of the toughest systems in Europe
The home secretary is set to announce a major change to the immigration system that will be modeled on Denmark, which has one of the toughest systems in Europe.
Authorities are thought to look at Denmark’s stricter rules on family reunification and consider restricting most asylum seekers from staying in the country temporarily after a delegation of senior officials were sent to Copenhagen last month to learn about their intervention and draw lessons that could be applied in the UK.
This comes as the government is stepping up efforts to reduce migration amid growing public anger over the issue.
Sources have told the BBC that the decision to examine 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.
Labor MPs are divided in the movement; Some want ministers in so-called red wall seats, seen as vulnerable to challenges from Reform UK, to move in the Danish direction, while others believe the policies will alienate progressive voters and push the party to the far right.
After a difficult few months for the government, which has seen the number of small boat crossings increase in the canal, the re-entry of a migrant deported under the UK’s repatriation agreement with France has come.
The Iranian man was detected and removed when he arrived in the UK for the second time on October 18, a month after returning to France.
At Labour’s party conference in September, Shabana Mahmood vowed to “do whatever it takes” to regain control of Britain’s borders.
But the government is yet to fully grasp the number of people making this dangerous crossing, with the total number of people arriving in the UK by small boat this year reaching 37,575 on 6 November.
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.
Although refugees who are targets of a foreign regime will likely be granted protection in Denmark, most people granted asylum are allowed to stay in the country only temporarily.
There are conditions such as full-time employment that apply to people seeking settlement rights. The time required to gain the right to settle has also been extended.
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 spouses to join them; The country says this is to protect against forced marriages.
The person who obtains a residence permit in Denmark must not have requested assistance for three years and must provide financial guarantee. Both partners must pass the Danish language test.
Denmark also takes a tough approach to integration; a law that allows the state to demolish blocks of flats in areas where at least half of the residents are from a “non-western” background – a law found to be discriminatory on the basis of ethnicity by a senior adviser to the EU’s top court.
Refugees living in these public housing will not be able to benefit from family reunification.
In September, former home secretary Yvette Cooper announced plans to suspend all new applications under the refugee family reunification route as part of a series of measures to tackle the refugee backlog and restrict the number of people crossing the Channel.
The changes mean that refugees will temporarily be subject to the same family migration rules and conditions as everyone else, and a new, tougher framework for family reunification will be introduced.
