Australia’s longstanding agreement with island nation Nauru over a centre in which asylum seekers are accommodated could provide inspiration for Denmark, according to the immigration minister.

“It is a system that has proven to be very effective in terms of controlling who comes to Australia,” he told newswire Ritzau.

Under the Australian model, migrants attempting to enter the country irregularly by sea are placed in a processing centre on Nauru, around 4,000 kilometres northeast of Australia.

International media have reported that around 1,000 people are placed at the centre as of 2024.

The refugee and migrant centre on Nauru has repeatedly drawn criticism from human rights organisations, with Amnesty International recently warning Denmark against taking inspiration from the model because of the living conditions of the residents.

The Nauru centre has also been described as a place of “indefinite despair” and “sustained abuse” by visitors from Médecins Sans Frontières and Human Rights Watch.

Successive Australian politicians defended the policy as key to protecting the country’s borders and saving lives at sea, as described by the BBC in 2023.

Mounting health crises and suicidal behaviour among child detainees eventually prompted Australia to evacuate people from the Nauru centre, and a similar facility on Papua New Guinea, under a special legislative scheme.

Meanwhile, researchers argued the policy had limited impact on boat arrivals and deaths at sea, which began to decline from 2014 onwards when Australia shifted its approach to “turnbacks”, under which migrant vessels were escorted out of Australian waters and their passengers  sent back to their countries of departure.

The Danish immigration minister said the Nauru policy can be considered successful because it keeps asylum seekers and migrants out of the country while their cases are processed.

“This is something many Western countries struggle with, and Australia has succeeded. I want to see how it works in practice,” Bek told Ritzau.

Denmark’s government, and particularly Bek’s party the Social Democrats, have long sought to establish a similar model in Rwanda, so far without success.

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“Fundamentally, we believe that the mechanism is correct. That asylum should be granted to those who need it, but not to those who are actually coming to improve their economic conditions, who should instead apply for a work permit like everyone else,” Bek said.

The minister recognised criticism of the conditions on Nauru.

“I am aware of the criticism, and I have been presented with it by human rights organisations,” he said.

“We are going to meet with them too, but our task is to get the full picture by listening to both the authorities and the critics,” he said.

The minister said that, should he find the centre to fail to be in line with human rights requirements, he would take this into consideration.

“If that is not the case [human rights compliance, ed.], it would be a very relevant consideration for us. But let’s see. I want to see it before I pass judgement on anything,” he said.