The right-wing Danish People's Party (DF) has presented a plan to introduce a complete halt to asylum until 2025.
If the DF had its way, asylum seekers coming to Denmark via Germany and Sweden would be rejected and asked to apply in the countries they have just travelled through, which are perfectly safe. If they still elect to stay in Denmark, a deportation will be negotiated for payment.
"We do not want people to seek asylum directly in Denmark in the coming years. This means that if you come to the Danish border from a peaceful country, typically Germany, then you'll be told to seek asylum in Germany", Danish People's Party's chairman Kristian Thulesen Dahl explained to Danish Radio.
According to him, the Refugee Convention doesn't prevent Denmark from sending people to countries that are deemed safe. Therefore, Denmark will use the border controls to turn asylum seekers back and ask them to stay, say, in Germany. According to Thulesen Dahl, Germany will have a fairly great understanding for the proposal, as the Germans are "quite tired of people travelling through six to seven safe countries before seeking asylum".
"The question is, how many people will want to apply in Denmark if they know that we have a system where they will be sent back anyway", Thulesen Dahl explained.
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According to Thulesen Dahl, this plan violates neither the Schengen Agreement nor the Dublin Regulation. He ventured that the Dublin system, according to which the first country an asylum seeker enters is usually responsible for dealing with their case, has "broken down" in recent years anyway.
According to the Danish People's Party, an asylum stop will result in 4,000 fewer asylum seekers coming to Denmark every year, while putting an extra DKK 2 billion ($300 million) more into the state's coffers.
Of this money, the DF propose to allocate DKK 1.5 billion ($220 million dollars) on raising the supplementary pension benefits by DKK 11,000 ($1,650), while the remainder will be used to pay off neighbouring areas to receive asylum seekers.
"We know that it will cost some money, but there is a bonus associated with it. We will save a lot of money on the asylum stop, and then we can increase Denmark's efforts in the neighbouring areas, so we help many more who are in need", Thulesen Dahl explained.
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Since its inception in 1995, The Danish People's Party has risen to the status of Denmark's largest right-wing party. By its own admission, it seeks to protect Denmark's cultural heritage and family values, promote entrepreneurship, limit immigration and promote full cultural integration of newcomers.
In 2014, the DF won the European Parliament election in Denmark by a wide margin, securing 27 percent of the vote. In the 2015 general election, the DF received 21 percent of the vote, cementing its role in Denmark's political landscape.
In the upcoming election, however, its status may be threatened by two new challengers, Stram Kurs ("Hard Line") and the New Right, both of which have been polling above the two percent threshold, eventually stealing DF voters who believe their party has "mellowed out". All three of them are anti-EU, anti-immigration, and anti-Islam.
