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Denmark refuses to take in UN quota refugees in 2018

Denmark said Thursday it would not take in any refugees under the UN's quota system in 2018, focusing instead on integrating those recently arrived in the country.

Published: 4 October 2018 17:09 CEST

Denmark refuses to take in UN quota refugees in 2018

Refugees at Copenhagen Central Station in November 2015. File photo: Simon Læssøe/Ritzau Scanpix

In 2016, the Scandinavian country suspended its participation in the UN refugee quota system, and has yet to resume it.

“We're still in a situation where we're struggling to integrate the many refugees who have come to Denmark in recent years,” Immigration Minister Inger Støjberg said in a statement.

So-called UN “quota refugees” are offered resettlement in a third country if the country where they first register as refugees cannot accommodate them.

A member of the liberal Venstre party in Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen's conservative coalition government, Støjberg has orchestrated Denmark's immigration policy since 2015.

“While an increasing number of refugees have entered the labour market, there are still too many who cannot support themselves,” she said.

The country registered 3,500 asylum seekers in 2017, according to the ministry, the lowest number since 2008.

For the first 10 months of 2018, some 2,600 applications have been received.

A new immigration law adopted at the end of 2017 stipulates that the number of refugees received is to be decided by the immigration ministry.

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'The war must end now': UN Sec-Gen meets Swedish PM in Stockholm

After a bilateral meeting with Magdalena Andersson on the security situation in Europe, Guterres warned that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could lead to a global food crisis that would hurt some of the world’s most vulnerable people.

“It is causing immense suffering, destruction and devastation of the country. But it also inflames a three-dimensional global crisis in food, energy and finance that is pummelling the most vulnerable people, countries and economies,” the Portuguese diplomat told a joint press conference with Andersson.

He stressed the need for “quick and decisive action to ensure a steady flow of food and energy,” including “lifting export restrictions, allocating surpluses and reserves to vulnerable populations and addressing food price increases to calm market volatility.”

Between the two, Russia and Ukraine produce around 30 percent of the global wheat supply.

Guterres was in Stockholm to take part in the Stockholm 50+ conference, which celebrates the 50th anniversary of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment.

The conference, which was held on the suggestion of the Swedish government in 1972 was the first UN meeting to discuss human impacts on the global environment, and led to the establishment of the UN Environment Program (UNEP).

At the joint press conference, Andersson said that discussions continued between Sweden and Turkey over the country’s continuing opposition to Sweden’s application to join the Nato security alliance.

“We have held discussions with Turkey and I’m looking forward to continuing the constructive meetings with Turkey in the near future,” she said, while refusing to go into detail on Turkey’s demands.

“We are going to take the demands which have been made of Sweden directly with them, and the same goes for any misunderstandings which have arisen,” she said.

At the press conference, Guterres condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine as “a violation of its territorial integrity and a violation of the UN Charter”.

“The war must end now,” he said.

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