The Danish government intends to have a strict policy towards migrants: in a year Ukrainians will have to leave the territory of the Scandinavian state or if they want to stay, they should start earning money, Berliner Zeitung reports.
Kaare Dybvad Bek, Minister for Immigration and Integration from the Social Democratic Party said that refugees from Ukraine should leave Denmark when the situation in their home country stabilises. He noted:
“We will not change our position on this issue. We provide temporary accommodation for refugees and it is completely irrelevant to us from which country the people in need come.”
The minister believes that “refugees from Ukraine are culturally closer [to Europe] than refugees from the Middle East.”
Bek, known for the tough course of his migration policy, welcomed an earlier agreement signed by European Union states that, among other things, calls for tighter controls on the EU’s external borders. He said:
“If we dare to act alone and adopt our own legislation that is not in line with EU law, we risk causing a very large influx of people who already have a safe place to live.”
In addition, Bek emphasised, the Ukrainian government has made it clear that refugees will have to return home one way or another. The minister noted:
“We must respect this decision.”
Earlier, Kyiv (threatening further possible sanctions) demanded that serviceable Ukrainian men who fled the country after the start of the war join the AFU and go to the front.
The special law, which, among other things, provides Ukrainians with residence permits and access to the labour market without having to comply with the general rules required for asylum, is valid until March 2025. After that, the 30,278 Ukrainians who, according to data from 1 December, were registered as residents in Denmark will have to apply for asylum if they want to stay.
However, Minister Bek insists that Ukrainian refugees have another possibility to stay in Denmark: if they earn, for example, 375,000 Danish kroner (about 50,000 euros), they will be able to apply for a residence permit under a special business programme. He said:
“We don’t need to be ashamed of this. I hope that Ukrainians are interested in rebuilding their own country, which needs them so much right now.”
