Denmark passes a law to send its asylum seekers outside of Europe

MPs in Denmark have passed a law that will see asylum seekers sent to countries outside of Europe to have their cases considered.

The legislation -- which was approved by 70 votes to 24 on Thursday -- is the latest anti-migration measure passed by the Danish parliament and aims to discourage migrants from ever setting foot in the country.

Last month, Copenhagen signed a memorandum of understanding with Rwanda about immigration and asylum issues. At the time, the government played down suggestions its asylum seekers could be sent to the African country as "speculation".

But the memorandum itself was clear about Denmark's long-term goals.

"The vision of the Danish Government that the processing of asylum applications should take place outside of the EU in order to break the negative incentive structure of the present asylum system," it read.

"The idea to externalise the responsibility of processing asylum seekers’ asylum claims is both irresponsible and lacking in solidarity," said Charlotte Slente, secretary-general of the Danish Refugee Council.

"We have repeatedly called on the Danish Members of Parliament to reject this bill. Similar models, such as the Australian model or the so-called ‘hotspots’ on the Greek islands, have involved serious incidents of detention, physical assault, slow asylum proceedings, lack of access to health care and lack of access to legal assistance.

"It is also still very unclear how a possible reception centre in a third country would be administered, in light of including Denmark's legal responsibility for safeguarding the rights of asylum seekers and refugees and ensuring their protection.

"It has also been one of our main concerns regarding the bill, which has now unfortunately been passed without adequate consideration.

"The fact is that the parliament has voted on a bill which paves the way for a potential asylum processing model that does not yet exist and which they, therefore, do not know what actually entails. This means that the parliament has effectively voted in the blind."