The Home Secretary is set to announce a huge shake-up of the UK’s immigration system inspired by tougher rules in Denmark.
Shabana Mahmood is reportedly mulling plans to make it easier to remove arrivals from the UK, while also reducing the incentives for those seeking to move here.
She has supposedly been inspired by the Danish immigration system, which has tougher rules on family reunions and how long refugees can stay in the country.
Denmark has seen massive a reduction of number of successful asylum claims to a 40-year low, with the exception of 2020, under the Social Democrats, Labour‘s sister party led by Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.
Since coming to power in 2019, Frederiksen has made tackling out-of-control immigration a key priority, vowing to pursue a ‘zero-refugee’ policy that involves actively discouraging people from coming to the country.
Keir Starmer signaled the government would be taking a tougher stance on immigration when he appointed Mahmood as Home Secretary, replacing Yvette Cooper, during a cabinet reshuffle in September.
Mahmood is seen as a hardliner on immigration and has promised ‘do whatever it takes’ to regain control of Britain’s borders. And it is likely that her further shift towards stricter rules in the UK could cause backlash against left leaning Labour MPs.
Some have already voiced concerns about taking inspiration from the Danish system, with one claiming their rules were ‘hardcore’ and contained echoes of the far right.
The Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood (pictured) is set to announce a huge shake-up of the UK’s immigration system
People thought to be migrants board a small boat in Gravelines, France, on Friday
But, despite Denmark’s rules remaining controversial, no one can deny its success, with asylum claims dropping by almost 90 per cent over the past decade.
Last year they plummeted to 2,333, while the UK total hit a record 108,138.
It marks a major shift from Denmark’s 2015 migration crisis, when annual asylum requests reached 21,316 in a country of only six million.
Some of the country’s policies have been accused of being discriminatory while others appear to quite deliberately introduce a hostile environment for migrants.
Asylum seekers refused the right to stay are denied benefits. They get food, served three times a day, at the country’s two deportation camps
They are sent to the camps to await removal by the Danish Returns Agency, which gets extra funds for results.
Migrants are also given financial incentives to leave and are handed £4,500 if they return home voluntarily.
And if a migrant’s country of origin is deemed ‘safe’, such as Syria after the recent fall of President Bashar al-Assad, even a successful asylum seeker can lose Danish residency and face being returned home.
Senior Home Office officials visited Copenhagen last month to examine what lessons could be learnt from their immigration system, according to the BBC.
They are said to be particularly interested in how Denmark has restricted family reunification, which is often a major incentive for seeking asylum.
In September, the UK Government announced that new applications to the existing refugee family reunion route would be suspended as they work up new rules.
The family reunion visa route allows people granted asylum or humanitarian protection in the UK to apply to bring immediate family to join them.
Unlike other migrants applying for asylum, they would not have to fulfil the income and English-language tests required to stay in the UK.
Mahmood will supposedly not go as far as Denmark when she introduces reforms to family reunion routes, although it is believed measures will be more restrictive.
Rasmus Stoklund, Denmark’s minister for Immigration and Integration, said cracking down on immigration and enforcing stricter integration rules was key to protecting the nature of Danish society.
He told the BBC: ‘We expect people who come here to participate and contribute positively and if they don’t, they aren’t welcome.’
Rasmus Stoklund, who is Denmark’s minister for Immigration and Integration
The latest polling in Denmark shows that the Social Democrats remain by far the most popular party, with 22.9 per cent of the vote – nearly 10 points ahead of the second-biggest rival.
By contrast, the Danish People’s Party, which is usually described as far-Right, is on just 4.4 per cent, down from 21.1 per cent ten years ago.
