At a recent EU interior ministers’ summit in Copenhagen, Denmark called for a radical overhaul of Europe’s asylum system, declaring it a failure. Danish Immigration Minister Kaare Dybvad Bek proposed creating return hubs outside the EU to deport migrants whose asylum claims have already been rejected. Unlike the UK’s Rwanda plan or Italy’s deal with Albania, Denmark’s concept focuses strictly on repatriation — not processing asylum requests. Denmark, led by a Social Democratic government, continues to take a tough stance on immigration, arguing that only one in four rejected asylum seekers is currently repatriated — an unsustainable situation that demands “innovative solutions.”
