Denmark plans to banish unwanted migrants on remote Lindholm Island that was used to quarantine sick farm animals
- The controversial plan calls for Lindholm Island to be decontaminated before housing rejected asylum seekers in 2021
- Human rights activists say the proposal is degrading and inhumane
A pro-government lawmaker acknowledged Tuesday that Danish plans to banish rejected asylum seekers or those with a criminal record to a remote island may breach international law – but added that his party doesn’t mind “challenging [international] conventions.”
Martin Henriksen of the anti-immigration Danish People’s Party, which supports Denmark’s centre-right government, said the government’s move “is a signal to the world that Denmark is not attractive” for migrants.
The isolated island of Lindholm was until this summer a laboratory facility for the state veterinary institute researching contagious animal diseases.
From 1926 until earlier this year, cattle and pigs suspected of having contagious diseases were isolated on the island, some 80km (50 miles) south of Copenhagen, to be tested.
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The plan, adopted Friday by the government and the Danish People’s Party that between them hold a majority in parliament, is to decontaminate the uninhabited island by late 2019 and open facilities for some 100 people in 2021.
The facilities would house migrants who have been denied asylum but cannot be deported, and those with criminal records.