Explainer-in-brief: Johnson gets his own version of Denmark’s Aliens Act
Last week, Boris Johnson unveiled a deal with Rwanda on migration. People coming to the UK to claim asylum can now be relocated there while their request is processed.
The UK is not the first country to do this. Last summer, Denmark passed the controversial Bill L 226 – the “Aliens Act” – that allows it to process asylum applications abroad. The bill was heavily criticised by other EU members.
But it hasn’t been implemented yet, as Denmark hasn’t found any country willing to take in its asylum seekers. It has signed a memorandum of agreement with Rwanda, but it’s not legally binding and hasn’t led to any case being processed there.
“If you apply for asylum in Denmark, you know that you will be sent back to a country outside Europe, and therefore we hope that people will stop seeking asylum in Denmark,” said the parliament’s spokesman on immigration at the time. It looks like the UK has embraced the same problematic logic.