Shabana Mahmood is to announce changes to the immigration rules in the UK marked by the Danish system, which is widely seen as a more restrictive one in Europe, the Guardian understands.
Last month, the home secretary sent officials to Denmark to study its border controls and asylum policies. The country’s stricter rules on family reunification and preventing some refugees from a temporary stay are among the policies being looked at.
MahMmood will announce the changes later this month, according to the BBC, which is first reported the plans.
The proposals drew ridicule from some Labor MPs, especially from the left of the Party, who said it was a “dangerous path”, although some wanted the government to continue.
In Denmark, refugees who have been personally targeted by a foreign regime are given greater protection, while those who are in conflict are usually allowed to stay in the country on a temporary basis. Denmark itself decides what a safe country is.
In 2022, the Danish government informed about 1,200 refugees from Damascus in Syria that their residence permits will not be renewed because, the destruction of the region is safe for refugees to return.
UK office officials are also drawn to Denmark’s stricter rules for family reunification. If a refugee who has been granted residence rights wants their partner to join them, there are several thresholds that must be met. Both people must be aged 24 and above, the partner in Denmark must not have claimed benefits for three years and must also put up a financial guarantee. Both partners must also pass a Danish language test.
Denmark also values those living in designated housing estates As the government’s “similar societies” – where more than 50% of residents come from what are considered “non-Western” backgrounds – from providing family reunification.
In 2021, Denmark passed a law enabling it to process asylum seekers outside of Europe, angering human rights advocates, the UN and the European Commission.
Labor MP Clive Lewis has been highly critical of the British government’s plans to adopt the Danish system in an effort to outflotk reform the UK.
“The social democrats in Denmark are tainted by what I would call a hardcore approach to immigration,” he said. “They adopted a lot of people talking about what we would call the far right.
“Labor needs to win over some reformist voters but you can’t do that at the expense of losing progressive votes.”
Nadia Whittome, Labor MP for Nottingham East and a member of Labour’s Socialist Campaign Group, said it would be a “dangerous path” to take and that some of the Danish policies, especially those around “parallel societies”, are “undeniably racist”.
“I think it’s a dead end – morally, politically and electorally,” he said on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Some Labor MPs from the center of the Party have told the BBC on the record that they oppose the implementation of Danish immigration policies in the UK.
However, Jo Puti, who leads a group of MPS to work on the “Red Wall” in the Midlands and North of England, said he wanted the government to go further in the direction of Denmark.
“The consequences are that we are going to a general election where reform is going to be the biggest challenger to the majority of Labor seats … and we are going to be destroyed.
Mahmmood, who was appointed secretary of the house in September, told the working conference that the “contribution of people who want new conditions that should continue for a long time, from five years to 10 years.
He has come under fire from Charities who have accused him of “scaphaging” migrants. After her conference speech, more than 100 charities including Refugee Action, Save the Children and Oxfam called on Mahmood to find solutions to problems with housing, the climate crisis and the NHS, and to end the use of “performative policies” that cause harm.