Denmark Criticized for Asylum Seeker Law

GENEVA - The U.N. refugee agency is sharply critical of a new Danish law, which aims to rid itself of asylum seekers fleeing violence and persecution by transferring responsibilities for their care to third countries.

Amendments to the Danish Aliens Act were approved June 3 by parliament. They go into effect if Denmark reaches an agreement with a third country to take the asylum seekers off its hands, while their cases are being processed. The U.N. refugee agency expresses alarm at that prospect and says it has repeatedly raised its concerns and objections to the Danish government. UNHCR spokesman Babar Balloch says the forcible transfer of asylum seekers and the abdication of Denmark’s responsibility for the asylum process risks weakening international protections for vulnerable refugees. “UNHCR strongly opposes efforts that seek to externalize or outsource asylum and international protection obligations to other countries. Such efforts to evade responsibility run counter to the letter and spirit of the 1951 Refugee Convention,” Balloch said.