“In light of the extraordinary situation, we have today told the parties in parliament that the government will offer to receive a limited number of asylum-seekers. The number is 1,000 people,” Integration Minister Inger <g data-gr-id="27">Stojberg</g> said at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen.
The government said it has yet to decide the period of time over which the refugees will be accepted. The issue will be discussed next week.
Denmark would also give an additional 750 million kroner (100 million euros, $114 million) to humanitarian efforts in the areas bordering conflict zones, and to the EU’s Frontex border agency, Rasmussen said.
“The time has come for common solutions in Denmark as well as in Europe. It is not easy. There are no easy solutions,” he said.
EU member Denmark has negotiated an opt-out from Europe’s immigration policy and Rasmussen emphasised there was little support in parliament for accepting refugees under a European quota plan.
Copenhagen’s ruling right-wing coalition took power in June, campaigning on tougher asylum rules and on halving benefits for newly-arrived immigrants in a bid to make the country less attractive to refugees.
To ensure that they got the message, it placed adverts in several Lebanese newspapers on September 7 warning of the change in regulations.
But dramatic images of Europe’s refugee crisis have helped sway public opinion and a Monday survey by pollster Voxmeter showed that 78 per cent of Danes wanted the country to be part of the EU’s plan to distribute refugees around the continent.
Thursday’s move was criticised by the anti-immigrant Danish People’s Party, on which the government usually relies to pass legislation.
Migrant crisis: Germany’s top immigration official resigns
The head of Germany’s refugee office, criticised for its handling of record numbers of asylum seekers, today unexpectedly stepped down citing “personal grounds” as the country grapples with a massive influx of refugees mainly from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. President of Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) Manfred Schmidt, Germany’s top official responsible for the processing of applications by asylum-seekers, has requested interior minister Thomas de Maiziere to relieve him of his responsibilities, the ministry said.
Paris clears out hundreds from migrant camps
Paris authorities are evacuating more than 500 Syrian and other migrants from tent camps and moving them to special housing as the country steps up efforts to deal with Europe’s migrant wave.
City social workers and charity workers woke the migrants before dawn Thursday, and they gathered their belongings calmly, watched over by police. The operations took place at a large camp near the Gare d’Austerlitz train station in southeast Paris, and another in the 18th arrondissement of northern Paris. Paris city hall said migrants are being bused to special migrant housing centers in Paris and the surrounding region, and offered help applying for asylum.