Denmark, which was a very liberal country, has been tightening its rules on migrants since the beginning of the century - especially since the refugee crisis of 2015. "We will make it more difficult to enter Denmark so that fewer people arrive," said the then right-wing liberal Prime Minister Lars Rasmussen.
Even then, the government shortened the duration of residence permits and benefits for asylum seekers and made it more difficult to reunite families. When the 50th legal measure to tighten the regime was introduced, the then Minister for Migration Affairs celebrated the event with a cake on Facebook, reports the German public broadcaster ARD.
Social Democrats copy the course of the right
"When the Social Democrats wanted to return to power, they said to themselves: there is a broad consensus in Denmark regarding this policy, so we will copy it", explains political scientist Marlene Wind. The result: in 2019, Social Democrat Mette Frederiksen won the parliamentary elections with her tough approach against foreigners.
Her government developed a new line: asylum seekers can only stay in the country temporarily. Integration as a goal was replaced by return to the homeland. The strategy involves repulsion and political symbolism. If the government is to be believed, this is precisely why fewer and fewer people are seeking asylum in Denmark. In 2024, 2,333 applications were submitted.
High requirements for asylum permits
Syrian Ala Duba and her family have been living in Denmark for eight years. They lost their home in Aleppo. Ala's husband - Mustafa Fakih - arrived two years before his family in 2015 by boat across the Mediterranean. He is assigned to the Danish island of Hørø - an idyllic resort.
In the meantime, Mustafa has opened a gardening and cleaning company, Ala is studying and wants to become a teacher. However, they only receive residence permits for two years - their current one expires in May, ARD reports. "The Danes set high requirements for residence permits. "You're under pressure and stress all the time," Ala says.
She and her husband could easily return to Syria, but their sons, who go to school in Denmark, have no desire to leave the country. The prospect of losing everything again scares 17-year-old Abdul. "We've spent half our lives in Denmark, learned the language, made friends. I think it would be very difficult for us to go back."
For many Danes, the main argument against foreigners is: we're a small country with high welfare payments. If we take in too many people, the country will be under threat.
Ala understands these sentiments. But she believes that since she and her husband have already built a life in Denmark, are working, and their children are going to school, "we should be able to stay".
In the deportation centers: "You are not human"
People who have not been granted asylum are treated much more harshly than Ala's family. Those who do not want to leave the country voluntarily or cannot be extradited usually end up in one of the deportation centers, which are even called prisons.
Farhad Rostami from Iran has been living in such a center for eight years, in a small room with a mattress on the floor. Denmark has rejected the Kurd's application for asylum. "We are locked up here without any options - we have no right to work, we are not free people. We are forced to stay here, without a future. "I am completely indifferent to them," Rostami told ARD.
Denmark wants Rostami to leave the country. But he fears that he will be arrested immediately in Iran, and the Danish authorities are not cooperating with Iran on the matter. That is why the 27-year-old man remains in the deportation center. Like 200 others who have to leave the country - almost all of them men.
They are allowed to move freely during the day, but must spend the night in the center. Rostami can only see his girlfriend and two-year-old daughter on weekends. "No one can understand how much this weighs on me", the man told ARD. "My daughter cries every time we have to part after a meeting. I can't get her crying out of my head."
The government is taking a hard line
The Danish government is being tough on people like Rostami. The message to refugees is: go back, you have no future here. Denmark has often had success with this strategy, says Minister for Integration Kaare Dibwad Beck. He says Denmark's approach is exemplary.
"If people had the opportunity to work, get an education and live in a normal home, they would never leave the country. Here, adults without asylum prospects do not have these opportunities. If other European countries do the same, many people will leave there too," the minister said, quoted by ARD.
However, the Danish model cannot be transferred so easily elsewhere - because in the early 1990s Denmark won a special status in the EU, including in the field of refugee policy. Because of this, the country can more easily apply stricter measures.
Authors: Julia Weschenbach (ARD) | Christian Blenker (ARD)