Published : 16-03-2022
Denmark has received accusations of double standards vis-à-vis migrants and asylum seekers. As the war in Ukraine triggers a mass exodus of refugees, countries have opened their doors wide to Ukrainians, offering a warm welcome that has historically been denied to other populations fleeing conflicts across the globe, particularly Palestinian refugees from Syria.
That contrast became more stark in recent weeks, when European governments have been accused of shunning desperate asylum seekers from Syria, even as they strive to be hospitable to asylum seekers escaping violence in Ukraine. European leaders have also described Ukrainian refugees as less of a threat and more deserving of help than others.
Denmark, which has some of the toughest anti-immigration legislation in Europe, passed a law that offers Ukrainian refugees expedited residency and work permits, giving them access to the education and health care systems. The law came as Syrian and Palestinian asylum seekers have been languishing for months in deportation centers in Denmark, after the country started revoking their residency permits in 2019.
In 2016, as many refugees fled conflicts in the Middle East and Africa to Europe, Denmark passed a law requiring newly arrived asylum seekers to hand over valuables, including jewelry and gold, to help pay for their stay in the country. Ukrainian refugees are exempt from that law.
The Danish government has also made an agreement with local authorities aimed at integrating asylum seekers into Danish communities within four days of their being granted a temporary residency permit.
“It’s going to go very fast. Within a couple of weeks many Danes will have a new colleague, a new neighbor or a new classmate,” Mattias Tesfaye, Denmark’s immigration minister, said on Danish television.
The welcome given to Ukrainian refugees in countries like Greece, Denmark, Poland and Hungary, which have been openly hostile to refugees in the past, is a striking turnaround from the European refugee crisis in 2015 when an influx of more than one million refugees and migrants escaping war and conflict in the Middle East and Africa fanned an anti-immigrant backlash in Europe.
Denmark has received accusations of double standards vis-à-vis migrants and asylum seekers. As the war in Ukraine triggers a mass exodus of refugees, countries have opened their doors wide to Ukrainians, offering a warm welcome that has historically been denied to other populations fleeing conflicts across the globe, particularly Palestinian refugees from Syria.
That contrast became more stark in recent weeks, when European governments have been accused of shunning desperate asylum seekers from Syria, even as they strive to be hospitable to asylum seekers escaping violence in Ukraine. European leaders have also described Ukrainian refugees as less of a threat and more deserving of help than others.
Denmark, which has some of the toughest anti-immigration legislation in Europe, passed a law that offers Ukrainian refugees expedited residency and work permits, giving them access to the education and health care systems. The law came as Syrian and Palestinian asylum seekers have been languishing for months in deportation centers in Denmark, after the country started revoking their residency permits in 2019.
In 2016, as many refugees fled conflicts in the Middle East and Africa to Europe, Denmark passed a law requiring newly arrived asylum seekers to hand over valuables, including jewelry and gold, to help pay for their stay in the country. Ukrainian refugees are exempt from that law.
The Danish government has also made an agreement with local authorities aimed at integrating asylum seekers into Danish communities within four days of their being granted a temporary residency permit.
“It’s going to go very fast. Within a couple of weeks many Danes will have a new colleague, a new neighbor or a new classmate,” Mattias Tesfaye, Denmark’s immigration minister, said on Danish television.
The welcome given to Ukrainian refugees in countries like Greece, Denmark, Poland and Hungary, which have been openly hostile to refugees in the past, is a striking turnaround from the European refugee crisis in 2015 when an influx of more than one million refugees and migrants escaping war and conflict in the Middle East and Africa fanned an anti-immigrant backlash in Europe.
