Spanish
The Danish Government presented this Friday a legal reform to be able to expel foreigners who have been sentenced to at least one year of unconditional imprisonment for serious crimes, a practice that it assumes may conflict with European human rights conventions.
"We don't have time to wait for the courts to change their practice, so we legislate on that now, aware that there is a risk we are willing to take for the Danes," said Social Democrat Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen at a press conference.
Denmark is one of the 27 countries out of a total of 47 that make up the Council of Europe that last month called for a new interpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights with regard to the protection of migrants in order to facilitate the expulsion of those who commit criminal acts.
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"It's about those who commit serious acts of violence, rape girls and women, commit crimes with criminal gangs and show contempt for us Danes," said Frederiksen, who heads a coalition government with the Liberal Party and the Moderate Party. Denmark would respect a hypothetical conviction against it in the future in European courts, but expects the convention to have been reformed before it can occur, according to Frederiksen. The legal reform also includes measures that increase incentives for third countries to collaborate, linked to cooperation aid, and for foreigners to leave voluntarily, increasing the money they receive who leave Denmark. The Danish government also announced the reopening of its embassy in Syria, after 16 years, as a measure framed within this reform. "This will allow us to better influence the evolution in Syria in a positive way. We also have the desire to increase cooperation with the transitional government on forced repatriations," explained the leader of the Moderate Party and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, in the press conference. Denmark wants to take the lead in opening the first reception center for asylum seekers outside the European Union (EU), in collaboration with other member countries, and study new initiatives "to ensure temporality for refugees and their families". Foreigners with criminal convictions who cannot be deported from the country and live in detention centers must wear an electronic ankle bracelet for one year if they do not fulfill their obligations. Since the turn of the century, Denmark has pushed for a hard line on immigration, initially supported only by the right and to which the Social Democrats have also joined in the last decade.
