COPENHAGEN: Denmark will expel non-Danish citizens who have served prison terms of a year or more for serious crimes, part of new measures to tighten immigration policy, the government announced Friday. &quot;Foreign offenders sentenced to at least one year in prison for serious crimes, such as aggravated assault and rape, should, in principle, be expelled,&quot; the immigration ministry said in a statement. Under current regulations, expulsions are not automatic, as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/denmark-hails-very-constructive-meeting-with-us-over-greenland" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Denmark</a>&nbsp;complies with international conventions protecting the right to private and family life and forbidding inhumane treatment. The Scandinavian country has, together with Britain, recently called on Europe to reform the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which safeguards fundamental <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/un-human-rights-council-to-hold-urgent-iran-meeting-on-friday" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">freedoms</a>. &quot;It is right and necessary for European countries to sit around a table and say that we prefer to protect our countries rather than protect offenders,&quot; Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told journalists. &quot;When international rules were drafted, I don&#39;t think anyone imagined that someone would flee the Middle East to come to the best country in the world and start raping girls and women,&quot; she said. &quot;At the time, it was absolutely not imagined that the victim would become the perpetrator. And I can assure you that, unfortunately, many of them have,&quot; she said. According to statistics from the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/thousands-rally-in-minneapolis-as-immigration-anger-boils" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">immigration</a>&nbsp;ministry, around 70% of foreign nationals sentenced to prison terms of one year or more for serious crimes have been expelled. In addition, the government &mdash; which insisted that &quot;refugees must be in Denmark on a temporary basis&quot; &mdash; plans to boost incentives for voluntary returns and to tighten rules for foreigners in departure centers. Denmark also said Friday it would reopen its embassy in Syria and establish cooperation with Afghanistan. In the departure centers, some&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/four-foreigners-hurt-in-settler-attack-in-west-bank" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">foreigners</a>&nbsp;who fail to comply with their reporting requirements will be required to wear electronic ankle tags. The reforms are expected to take effect on May 1.

Europe

Denmark unveiled tougher immigration rules, seeking to expel foreign offenders jailed one year or more for serious crimes.

Denmark to expel non-Danes if jailed for one year or more

LONDON: The foreign ministers of 10 nations on Tuesday expressed &quot;serious concerns&quot; about a &quot;renewed deterioration of the humanitarian situation&quot; in Gaza, saying the situation was &quot;catastrophic&quot;.&nbsp;&quot;As winter draws in, civilians in Gaza are facing appalling conditions with heavy rainfall and temperatures dropping,&quot; the ministers of Britain, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland said in a joint statement released by the UK&#39;s Foreign Office.&nbsp;&quot;1.3 million people still require urgent shelter support. More than half of health facilities are only partially functional and face shortages of essential medical equipment and supplies. The total collapse of sanitation infrastructure has left 740,000 people vulnerable to toxic flooding,&quot; the statement added.&nbsp;The ministers said they welcomed the progress that had been made to end the bloodshed in Gaza and secure the release of Israeli hostages.&nbsp;&quot;However, we will not lose focus on the plight of civilians in Gaza,&quot; they said, calling on the government of Israel to take a string of &quot;urgent and essential&quot; steps.&nbsp;These included ensuring that international NGOs could operate in Gaza in a &quot;sustained and predictable&quot; way.&nbsp;&quot;As 31 December approaches, many established international NGO partners are at risk of being deregistered because of the government of Israel&rsquo;s restrictive new requirements,&quot; the statement said.&nbsp;It also called for the UN and its partners to be able to continue their work in Gaza and for the lifting of &quot;unreasonable restrictions on imports considered to have a dual use&quot;.&nbsp;This included medical and shelter equipment.&nbsp;The foreign ministers also called for the opening of crossings to boost the flows of humanitarian aid into Gaza.&nbsp;While welcoming the partial opening of the Allenby crossing, they said other corridors for moving goods remained closed or severely restricted for humanitarian aid, including the Rafah crossing.&nbsp;&quot;Bureaucratic customs processes and extensive screenings are causing delays, while commercial cargo is being allowed in more freely,&quot; the statement said.&nbsp;&quot;The target of 4,200 trucks per week, including an allocation of 250 UN trucks per day, should be a floor, not a ceiling. These targets should be lifted so we can be sure the vital supplies are getting in at the vast scale needed,&quot; it added.

Middle East

Foreign ministers say Gaza’s humanitarian situation is catastrophic as winter arrives, with severe shortages of shelter, healthcare, and sanitation; urge Israel to allow NGOs and the UN to work freely, open crossings, and increase aid deliveries.

Articles tagged with "denmark"

Denmark to expel non-Danes if jailed for one year or more

10 countries warn of 'catastrophic' Gaza situation