Thousands Protest Harsh Refugee Policy in Denmark
Thousands Protest Harsh Refugee Policy in Denmark

Demonstrations were held Monday in Denmark to protest plans by the government to send refuges and migrants to a remote island. On the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, thousands of Danes and non-Danes thronged to protests in the nation’s capital and largest city Copenhagen and its second largest […]

Demonstrations were held Monday in Denmark to protest plans by the government to send refuges and migrants to a remote island.

On the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, thousands of Danes and non-Danes thronged to protests in the nation’s capital and largest city Copenhagen and its second largest city, Aarhus, to call on the government to back down from plans to send refugees to Lindholm Island in the country’s southeast.

Nine non-governmental organizations participated in the demonstrations, including ActionAid Denmark (Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke), Amnesty International and Save the Children.

Calling on the government to reverse its halt of refugees coming into the country via UN quotas, Tim Whyte, general secretary of ActionAid Denmark, told Anadolu Agency that the decision to hold refugees on Lindholm Island was fundamentally wrong.

The Danish government plans to establish an “exit center” for refugees on Lindholm Island, which has a total area of 7 hectares (0.3 square miles) and was formerly used by the Technical University of Denmark for researching contagious animal diseases.