‘Now that you have arrived, hand us all your money and jewellery, if you have any left.’ That’s the message for refugees that Danish lawmakers drove home on Tuesday night, voting overwhelmingly in favour of a slew of measures, personally championed by Prime Minister Lars Rasmussen and intended to deter them from seeking asylum. The steps include a new law to empower Danish police to seize valuables from refugees even as they are “welcomed”.
While the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has condemned the law as violating the most basic human rights and dignity, Danish lawmakers have sought succour in the fact that the new measures would make Denmark only a “little less attractive” to refugees. This spectacular display of disdain for refugees — most of whom are fleeing civil war, strife and unspeakable horror in Syria and elsewhere — squarely puts the Danish government at odds with its own policies of opposing the brutalities perpetrated by Daesh (the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) and other extremist groups in the Middle East.
There is also the draconian provision under the law that will delay family reunification for refugees for three years. Simply put, even those granted refugee status in Denmark will not be able to bring their families in till that period — never mind if they have to endure the daily prospect of violence, rape and murder. It’s always pragmatic when a country puts its long-term financial health ahead of any other issue, as Denmark has done. But an increasingly globalised community requires a certain basic camaraderie for people facing a humanitarian crisis. Instead, in heaping humiliation on refugees, Denmark has shown it doesn’t belong to the world’s welcoming community.
