The Danish Ministry of Immigration and Integration has announced that Denmark will receive 200 quota refugees in 2024, continuing the quota from previous years 2023, 2022, 2021, and 2020. These refugees, selected by the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR, come from refugee camps in Rwanda, as well as Eritrean and Afghan refugees.
The Minister of Immigration and Integration, Kaare Dybvad Bek (Social Democratic Party), emphasizes that Denmark supports the UN quota system, which is why the country continues to receive quota refugees. “We have always said that the number is crucial. I believe that by maintaining the number at 200 quota refugees, we ensure that integration can keep up,” says Bek.
Quota refugees are individuals who cannot receive sufficient protection in the country they have fled to, and who cannot return to their home country. In 2017, the former V-L-A-K government introduced a new scheme giving the Minister of Immigration and Integration the mandate to determine the number and distribution of quota refugees annually.
Historically, Denmark has received about 500 quota refugees annually since 1989. However, during parts of 2016, 2017, and 2018, under the then Venstre-led government, the reception was suspended. The former Minister of Immigration and Integration, Inger Støjberg (Venstre, now leader of the Danish Democrats), justified the pause by citing the high number of spontaneous asylum seekers, especially from Syria.
In 2019, the Social Democratic government reached an agreement with its supporting parties to resume receiving quota refugees, and since then, the quota has remained at 200 annually. There is, however, ongoing political debate about the number of quota refugees Denmark should accept.
During the latest EU election campaign, the Moderate Party’s Stine Bosse suggested that Denmark could take in up to 7000 quota refugees, a statement she later retracted.