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Denmark’s Anti-Refugee Ads in Lebanese Media Misinterpret Legislation

© AP Photo / Heribert Proepper/AP/dapdA car crosses the German-Danish border at Krusaa, Denmark (Foto vom 24.06.11)
A car crosses the German-Danish border at Krusaa, Denmark (Foto vom 24.06.11) - Sputnik International
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Earlier in the week, Denmark placed advertisements in at least three Arabic-language and one English-language newspapers in Lebanon warning prospective asylum seekers about changes to laws in Denmark that would make it harder for them to settle in the country.

MOSCOW (Sputnik), Anastasia Levchenko — Denmark's social advertisements in a number of Lebanese newspapers aimed to keep would-be asylum seekers away from the country are inaccurate and make readers easily misinterpret the real legislation, Danish Refugee Council told Sputnik on Wednesday.

"We are worried about this kind of information that was sent through papers in Lebanon and other countries, because we do not consider it to be accurate. It is very easy to misunderstand what it says, especially concerning the right to family reunification," Andreas Kamm, the secretary general of the Danish Refugee Council, told Sputnik.

Migrants gather and shout slogans outside the railway station in Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015 - Sputnik International
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Lebanese newspapers said that social benefits for newcomers are being halved, and that those seeking a permanent residence permit will have to wait for five years and will not be allowed to bring their families to the country.

"The Danish legislation is a bit tricky. The former government introduced a new article to the law saying that some people, a few people from Syria, a tiny little group, who are not in troubles individually, have to wait one year before they can reunite with their family in Denmark. But this is a minority," Kamm explained.

"It is very easy to misunderstand the signal sent by this message. Because they also say that you will only be able to be granted a permanent residence after five years. So if you read it, it seems like your family will not be able to go to Denmark together with you for at least five years," Kamm continued.

Whether such messaging has been made on purpose or not is hard to say, but it definitely distorts the picture of the regulations in Denmark, head of the Danish Refugee Council said.

Danish police guard a train carrying migrants, mainly from Syria and Iraq, at Rodby train station, south of Denmark, September 9, 2015. The migrants, hoping to get to Sweden, arrived at Rodby on Tuesday night and refused to leave the train to get registered in Denmark. - Sputnik International
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Advertisements in the newspapers were published upon the initiative of immigration and integration minister Inger Stojberg, who is also spokeswoman for the ruling Venstre Party. She wrote on her Facebook that the message would be translated into 10 languages and circulated on social media and in refugee centers.

Denmark has a right to opt out of the EU's quota scheme for relocating migrants under its treaty with the European Union, but its Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said on Monday that his country was prepared to participate in the program.

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