EU Refugee Crisis Update 2016: Denmark's Asylum Application Numbers Show Massive Drop

Less than 50 people applied for asylum in Denmark last week, the lowest weekly total for the year. The latest numbers from the Integration Ministry showed that only 46 people applied for asylum in the country. The figure was at 63 the week before last.

In 2016, a total of 5,959 people have sought asylum in Denmark, a massive drop from the nearly 21,000 applications the country received in 2015. The drop could be attributed to Denmark’s restrictions tightening border security, first implemented on Jan. 4, 2016. The restrictions had been extended multiple times throughout the year.

The Danish government continued to implement multiple restrictions to deter asylum seekers from entering the country. These restrictions include a controversial measure that allowed police officers to confiscate a refugee’s valuables to help pay for accommodation.

The government had also introduced measures that allowed officials to turn refugees away at the border should the number of asylum seekers in the country rise. Obtaining permanent residency in the country has also become more difficult.

In November, Denmark announced that it is indefinitely suspending its program through which the country receives nearly 500 refugees a year though the United Nations Refugee Agency.

“It will give the municipalities a little breathing space and room to better take care of those who have already come here,” Integration Minister Inger Støjberg reportedly said at a meeting in the Danish parliament.

The program was postponed in August so Denmark could cope “economically, socially and culturally,” Støjberg said.

Most asylum-seekers in 2015 entered Denmark to make their way to Sweden where rules regarding refugees are more relaxed.