Q&A: Copying Denmark's tough asylum rules is 'race to the bottom'

LONDON - Britain said this month it will no longer offer refugees permanent protection and will make it harder for them to bring family into the country as part of sweeping reforms in response to mounting pressure on the government over record migration.

The hardline measures are similar to rules introduced by Denmark in 2015 when millions of migrants, mostly Syrians fleeing civil war, arrived in Europe seeking safety.

These days, Denmark receives among the least amount of asylum applications in the European Union, according to Eurostat. 

Like Denmark, refugees in Britain will now need to renew their visas every few years, costing taxpayers about 1.27 billion pounds ($1.66 billion) for additional administrative work, according to Britain's Refugee Council, an NGO.

Refugees will also need to wait 20 years before they can apply to settle in Britain, a jump from the current five years, and could be returned to their home country if it is deemed safe. Britain has said it will also speed up the removal of applicants who fail to gain asylum.

Eva Singer, director of asylum for the Danish Refugee Council, spoke to Context about the effects of Denmark's tough policies on refugees.

What are some of the consequences of Denmark's asylum policies?

It's very difficult for a newcomer. You need to learn a new language, you need to find a job, find out how to navigate this new country.

We have seen plenty of research done in Denmark about how it negatively affects the integration of refugees when they don't know if their residence permit will be renewed in one or two years.

It also influences the employers. We had employers who said, 'We would like to hire a refugee, (but) is that really worth our while if we don't know if that person will stay here for more than one or two years?'

For families with children who have been here for more than 10 years, the children are fluent in Danish. What will happen if they return to their home country? The children only speak Danish now.

People feel this uncertainty about whether they can actually remain here, whether their children will be able to remain.

What has the policy of reviewing refugees' temporary visas every few years been like in Denmark?

We have civil servants now only working on the renewal of residence permits. It's grown enormously. Just imagine the bureaucracy around reviewing the residency permits every one or two years for the next 20 years.

In Denmark, I think the processing period now seems like nine (or) 10 months.

You do have your residency permit during that period, and you do have the right to work, but your travel document, for example, cannot be renewed until residency has been renewed.

Britain has adopted Denmark's 'Jewellery Law,' which lets the state seize assets to pay for costs. Are there many incidents of that in Denmark?

It's so symbolic in a very negative sense. It has been used maybe 10 or 20 times.

It was very clearly introduced to create a big wave outside Denmark. Denmark was trying to portray itself as a hostile country, so that people would stop coming here.

How have these policies contributed to rhetoric around refugees in Denmark?

I think it's very, very divisive, and a lot of people are very upset and feel this is so un-Danish to have this rhetoric.

The general rhetoric among some politicians is continuously becoming harsher ... saying that people should not actually remain in Denmark and they don't belong here.

If more and more European countries were to adopt the same rules, trying to shift responsibility away, we have this race to the bottom.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

($1 = 0.7630 pounds)

(Reporting by Lin Taylor; Editing by Ayla Jean Yackley.)