Working in collaboration to create a European asylum system

Immigration Policy 

Asylum: The number has a significance

THE NUMBER HAS A MEANING. The number of non-Western foreigners who are granted asylum in Denmark has a bearing on how many we can integrate. Therefore, Denmark itself must be able to decide how many we will receive.

New asylum system: The number has a significance

The number has a meaning. The number of non-Western foreigners who are granted asylum in Denmark has a bearing on how many we can integrate. Therefore, in Denmark we must work to limit how many we receive.

Social democracy has a comprehensive plan that takes responsibility for Denmark and extends into the world. It is a plan that fully complies with international conventions. And a plan that can set a model for other European countries. Not least because the plan is based on the individual countries’ right to decide for themselves how many foreigners they can accept. And at the same time, support an international world order through the UN. Where the equitable distribution of refugees occurs by the countries receiving the number of allowable refugees that can be reasonably integrated.

Social democracy’s plan cannot be realized by Denmark alone. But the Social Democracy has the ambition that several countries in the EU join forces to set up reception centers. And we will work to ensure that the entire EU asylum system is organized on the same principles. So that asylum treatment takes place exclusively in safe countries outside Europe. And that the influx into the EU is regulated through the UN’s quota refugee scheme.

We are in a historic refugee and migrant crisis. More than 60 million people have fled from war and unrest. At the same time, more and more migrants are seeking a better life in Europe, but unfortunately the journey often ends unhappily. In just three years, more than 10,000 children, women and men have drowned in the Mediterranean, while cynical traffickers make billions in the misfortune of others. And those who cannot afford to escape are left behind.

Denmark must help when people are sent on the run. We always did, we do, and we must continue to do so. At the same time, demographic developments in Africa and climate change in themselves will mean that migration pressure on Europe will only grow in the coming decades. We have to deal with that. And we must remember that our current asylum system is not designed for a permanent migration created by explosive population growth, poverty and climate change.

The basic challenge is that as long as spontaneous asylum in Europe can be demanded, people will continue to drown, human traffickers will be gilded while real refugees will fail. Therefore, it must be turned upside down. The current system is unsustainable, unfair, decidedly inhumane and too expensive.

In addition, the vast majority of the world’s refugees reside in the conflicts. This is where help is most needed. The way the current asylum system is organized creates a huge distortion of the many resources we spend on refugees and migrants. We spend more money on asylum seekers who are able to reach Europe’s borders with human traffickers, while allocating far fewer funds to the majority of the world’s most vulnerable and poor refugees in the surrounding areas. It is unsustainable. And that is profoundly unfair.

That is why we have been at the forefront of a dialogue on how to create a European asylum system that can cope with the persistent migration pressure on Europe’s borders. A system that not only helps those refugees who have the resources to reach our borders. And a system that breaks down the traffickers’ business model so that no one can profit from the deaths of thousands of people in the quest to reach Europe.

Social democracy’s goal is to help more and more. In a way where we simultaneously look after our own community. And in a way where we ensure that the resources we use on the world’s refugees are used, so that they reach the longest and help the most.

We believe that Denmark needs a coherent and long-term foreign policy. Where the basic direction is fixed and where no single element changes constantly. Our entire play is a presentation for discussion. We like to listen to other people’s good ideas. But we will insist on one thing: There is a need for broad and binding cooperation on long-term solutions. Denmark does not need the block policy and divide that has historically characterized the foreign policy. On the contrary.