Denmark recently said it would refuse to take part in Brussels newly proposed migrant redistribution scheme that some of the bloc’s member states have adopted.
Danish Minister for Immigration and Integration Mattias Tesfaye said that his country would not take part in the arrangement that would distribute newly arrived migrants across various member states, the Local reports.
At the end of September, a few EU member states agreed to take in more migrants in a redistribution effort during a meeting in Malta.
But Denmark is having none of it.
“Specifically, we don’t want to take part in the redistribution agreed between EU countries, the so-called Malta Agreement,” Tesfaye said during Tuesday’s meeting between EU interior ministers in Luxembourg.
“We have instead asked the UN whether we can take Syrian refugees from refugee camps in Turkey.”
The Danish minister then warned that the new redistribution program would only encourage more migrants to make the perilous journey across the Mediterranean.
“I think it’s a short-term solution for those countries if they start to redistribute. It will just mean more boats will sail towards European ports,” Tesfaye said.
“Our political attention is on helping refugees. As such, a system with automatic redistribution makes us nervous,” he added.
So far, aside from four EU countries that drafted the migrant relocation plan, only three additional member states have signed up to the scheme – Ireland, Portugal, and Luxembourg.
