Denmark approved a law on Thursday to conduct the processing of asylum seekers in a country outside Europe.
The law drew rebukes from human rights advocates, the United Nations and the European Commission.
Denmark has been noted for its stringent immigration policies, and passed the law with 70 lawmakers in favour and 24 against.
EU officials have said the Denmark legislation will complicate the European Union's efforts to overhaul Europe's migration and asylum rules, which has become an extremely divisive subject within the bloc.
"External processing of asylum claims raises fundamental questions about both the access to asylum procedures and effective access to protection," European Commission spokesman Adalbert Jahnz said.
Denmark already has one of Europe's strictest regulations on immigration and only accepts refugees under the UN's quota system.
The new law will allow refugees arriving in Denmark to be transferred to asylum centers in another country to have their cases reviewed.
"If you apply for asylum in Denmark, you know that you will be sent back to a country outside Europe, and therefore we hope that people will stop seeking asylum in Denmark," the government party's immigration speaker, Rasmus Stoklund, told broadcaster DR earlier on Thursday.
In April, Denmark's immigration minister, Mattias Tesfaye, signed diplomatic agreements on asylum and political matters with Rawanda, which might become the country to host the processing center.
Critics worry moving the asylum process to countries with fewer resources will undermine the safety and welfare of refugees and compromise their human rights.
The United Nations Refugee Agency earlier said that Denmark's move could trigger a "race to the bottom" if other countries enacted similar laws.
"Such practices undermine the rights of those seeking safety and protection, demonize and punish them and may put their lives at risk," UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner Gillian Triggs said.
There were just over 1,500 applicants seeking refuge in Denmark in 2020, down from more than 21,000 in 2015 when more than one million refugees landed on EU shores.
SOURCE: Big News Network
