Denmark Negotiates to Transfer Asylum Seekers to Rwanda

As we have posted previously on the blog, the UK has announced a new program to send asylum seekers to Rwanda. Now, Denmark is in negotiations to follow the UK’s footsteps by possibly starting its own asylum transfer program in Rwanda.

Plans for such a program appear to have been in the works for a while. As Reuters reports, last year Denmark passed a law “that allows refugees arriving on Danish soil to be moved to asylum centres in a partner country.” Also in 2021, Denmark signed a Memorandum on Cooperation with Rwanda. A copy of that document is available here.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has warned that any attempt by Denmark to transfer asylum seekers to a third country for adjudication “frustrate access to international protection, are inconsistent with global solidarity and responsibility sharing, regularly undermine the rights of asylum seekers and refugees and thus violate international obligations of States.”

IE