Europe's news in English

COPY LINK

UKRAINE

Denmark wants special residency law for Ukrainians

Denmark’s government on Wednesday said it would propose a special law providing for legal residency for Ukrainian nationals.

Published: 2 March 2022 17:20 CET

Danish immigration minister Mattias Tesfaye

Danish immigration minister Mattias Tesfaye wants special residence and work permit rules for Ukrainian refugees. Photo: Philip Davali/Ritzau Scanpix

Minister for Immigration and Integration Mattias Tesfaye confirmed on Wednesday that the government was prepared to introduce special legislation for Ukrainian nationals in Denmark, after other parties also called for the move.

The minority government is now scheduled to discuss the matter with other parties at a parliamentary meeting on Friday.

Here, the government is expected to present more specific detail as to what the special law will mean. It will also ask for expedited process through parliament so any bill can be passed as quickly as possible.

Current rules allow Ukrainian nationals to stay in Denmark for 90 days without a visa.

A special law would extend this and could conceivably mean that Ukrainians would be able to stay in Denmark for longer than three months without having to have asylum claims assessed by authorities.

EU countries are already scheduled to meet on Thursday to discuss how to help Ukrainians displaced by the Russian invasion which began last week.

Denmark has an opt-out from any EU legislation that may be passed on the question and is therefore able to pass its own law.

An addition to residency, the Danish law will also address the status of Ukrainian refugees on the Danish labour market, Tesfaye said.

“I have just today had a meeting with the Ukrainian ambassador, who has a positive view of quickly ensuring special residency rules for Ukrainians,” he said in a written comment to news wire Ritzau.

“I will now discuss the options with my European colleagues on Thursday.

“On the basis of that I will meet parliament’s parties on Friday, when I will table the government’s proposal for how we in Denmark best ensure Ukrainians a good and quick welcome, including in relation to getting them on the labour market as soon as possible,” he said.

READ ALSO: How can people in Denmark help Ukraine?

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.

Become a Member to leave a comment.

Local authority demands changes at Denmark’s Kærshovedgård asylum camp

Local politicians in Ikast-Brande have reportedly run out of patience with crime and security issues at the Kærshovedgård ‘departure centre’ for rejected asylum seekers and convicted felons awaiting deportation.

The officials have stated their position in a letter sent by the Ikast-Brande municipal council to Mininster for Immigration and Integration Kaare Dybvad Bek, newswire Ritzau reports.

That comes after conditions at the centre were the focus of a stinging rebuke in a report by the Ombudsman, the Danish parliamentary watchdog, in a report published last week.

READ ALSO: Danish watchdog slams ‘deteriorating’ conditions at Kærshovedgård asylum facility

In the report, the ombudsman said conditions at the centre have deteriorated and are now so poor that they prevent residents from “living basic life”, while security at the facility was also criticised.

“We cannot passively look on as criminal residents who have been sentenced to deportation and who live at Kærshovedgård Departure Centre repeatedly commit new crimes and create insecurity in the local community,” the officials write in the letter.

Incidents named in the letter including drugs cases and a recent fatal traffic accident for which a resident of Kærshovedgård is the subject of police charges.

“We need a solution now,” the council writes without providing any specific suggestions as to which measures could be taken.

While state funds have been provided for the purposes of improving safety in the community neighbouring the facility, this does not go far enough according to the authors of the letter.

“The crime which is committed by some of the residents of the departure centre is not reduced by this funding. It is the residents, their behaviour and their movements which should be in focus,” they say.

READ ALSO: New film reveals life at Denmark’s controversial deportation centre

Located 13 kilometres from Ikast in Jutland, the Kærshovedgård facility is one of two deportation centres in Denmark used to house rejected male and female asylum seekers who have not agreed to voluntary return, as well as persons with so-called ‘tolerated stay’ (tålt ophold) status. Some residents are foreign nationals with criminal records who have served their sentences but are awaiting deportation.

The residents do not have permission to reside in Denmark but many cannot be forcibly deported because Denmark has no diplomatic relations or return agreements with their home countries.

Kærshovedgård first became prominent in the mid-2010s, when it received criticism for imposing conditions that could lead to mental illnesses in residents.

“The security situation for the residents of Kærshovedgård appears to have worsened since the ombudsman’s last visit, and this is a development that should be rectified,” the ombudsman, Niels Fenger, said in a statement on Friday.

Fenger said he was “of the impression that residents experience greater feelings of insecurity at the departure centre [and there is] a lot of crime including the sale of narcotics.”

“Additionally, the atmosphere at the departure centre carries a sense of deterioration and a significant number of residents have addiction problems,” the ombudsman statement said.

The ombudsman also observed that, since a previous visit in 2017, “there has been a change in the composition of residents in that people who have a deportation [criminal, ed.] sentence and who did not previously live at Kærshovedgård now make up the largest group at the location”.

Url copied to clipboard!