Attachments
By Marie Sandberg
A traditionally relatively homogeneous and egalitarian welfare state, Denmark since the turn of the millennium has moved from a liberal approach toward humanitarian protection to a strict policy structure that has put it at the forefront of governments pondering new restrictions. Recent moves such as exploring external asylum procedure arrangements with Rwanda and making the status of all refugees in the country temporary, regardless of their humanitarian protection needs, are signs of how Denmark has become a first mover in the European Union for protection-narrowing policies. During the 2015-16 European migration and refugee crisis, the country also received international attention for policies including confiscating arriving asylum seekers’ valuables.
This development is fairly recent. Denmark was one of the first signatories of the 1951 Refugee Convention, which secured international protection for people facing persecution or fleeing war. In 1983, it ratified the first Aliens Act, which was known for a liberal approach to refugees. Since 1989, Denmark has been part of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) resettlement system, receiving approximately 500 resettled refugees per year except during the 2016-19 period, after which the quota was reduced. However, in the early 2000s and following the 2015-16 crisis, attitudes and policies changed to support a more restrictive system based on the seemingly contradictory policy approaches of integration through self-sufficiency and a focus on returns. Notably, this development has been welcomed across the political spectrum during the past decade, and the center-left’s embrace of restrictions has been identified as crucial to its ability to stay in power even as other countries have seen the right and far right rise over migration issues.
At the same time, the proportion of Danish residents who are immigrants has increased, from 2.6 percent in 1980 to 12.6 percent in 2025. Danish-born children with two immigrant parents represent an additional 3.7 percent of the population, an increase from less than 0.4 percent in 1980.
This country profile reviews historical and contemporary migration trends in Denmark, with a focus on the country’s turn towards making humanitarian protection temporary as well as its potential role as a lodestar for restrictive migration policies across the European Union.