Even though Denmark has said its proposed law to seize the valuables of refugees to finance their asylum has been “deeply misunderstood”, the government did not deny the essence of the bill: that people seeking refuge in Denmark may be forced to contribute some of their wealth to the Danish government.
Under the proposed law, the Danish government could seize cash more than $1,460 and any valuables worth that amount or more. It will not take jewelry, but watches, mobile phones and computers could be subject to seizure.
The Danish explanation for taking possessions from refugees concerns its generous welfare system. All Danish citizens and refugees receive universal health care, a free education from preschool to university, elderly care, language training and integration training free of charge, paid for by the government. Therefore, if refugees have the means to pay for housing and food, then they should. And if they cannot do this, then the government will provide for them. This is the essence of the bill. The measures are meant simply to put migrants on an equal footing with jobless Danes, who must sell assets above a certain level to claim benefits.
This sounds fair enough; however, one has to rewind the reel to see how refugees became refugees. Because of war, persecution and poverty, they have fled their homes and their countries in fear. Entire families have been uprooted from what they have always called home, to try to resettle in an unknown land. Even if one is leaving from a place of utter devastation, chaos and danger, and going to a land of peace, democracy and tranquillity, it is surely a traumatic, life-changing experience which will take years and years to get used to.
These are people who have lost their homes and almost everything they possess. Despite what looks like a kind and fair give and take between the refugee and his new government, it still beggars belief that somebody would want to strip the already downtrodden of the little they have managed to salvage from their lives. Refugees need to be respected. Anything less is unworthy and an affront to dignity, not to mention arbitrary interference with their right to privacy.
It is hard to believe that a country would want to confiscate the few belongings that asylum seekers have managed to save. But the proposals in Denmark as well as in Switzerland, where local authorities may seize any refugee's belongings valued at more than $1,000 and whose government says is the expressed will of Swiss voters, are apparently part of a rightward shift across Europe over the past year following both an influx of refugees from Syria and elsewhere and terrorist acts that have tested the continent's resolve and infrastructure. Denmark has a right-leaning Liberal Party which took office last year. From France to Poland, right-leaning or outright far-right parties have been gaining in strength and taking power. With that, concerns over integration, the economic burden and security have risen sharply.
The Paris attacks in November, then the New Year's Eve street assault in Cologne by men of a mainly migrant background against German women has led to harsh questions about Western values and integration.
It seems like a long time ago when crowds of Germans gathered at a Munich railway station to chant "refugees are welcome here". However, it was only last September. A few months later and the mood in Germany and much of the rest of Europe has changed. Europe is a much less hospitable place for migrants than it seemed to be last summer.
