Denmark’s new plan to deter migrants: Seize their valuables

Denmark’s new plan to deter migrants: Seize their valuables

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Hoping to diminish Denmark’s appeal to migrants, the country’s government plans to force asylum-seekers to hand over any valuables worth more than $1,500 to help cover their housing and food costs while their cases are being processed.

The center-right government’s proposal is expected to be approved by Parliament this month despite outrage from human rights activists who say it’s a cruel and degrading way to treat people who have fled war and misery.

While noting the rules would be no different from those that apply to Danes receiving welfare benefits, government officials are candid about the purpose: persuading migrants to go somewhere else.

Compared with its neighbors, the nation of 5.6 million people wedged between Germany and Sweden received a small part of Europe’s migrant flow last year. About 20,000 people applied for asylum in Denmark, while 1.1 million did so in Germany and 163,000 in Sweden.

Danish officials have said the welcoming attitudes in those countries could put pressure on their welfare systems and lead to social unrest.

Their hard line has not been lost on many of the thousands of Syrians, Afghans, Iraqis and others who see Denmark only as a transit point to reach other Nordic countries.

By wire sources