Former Danish Minister for Integration, Inger Støjberg, was on trial on Tuesday 14 December before the Special Court of Justice which is examining cases of ministers having failed in the performance of their duties. The 48-year-old woman was sentenced to two months in prison for having unlawfully ordered in 2016 the separation of 23 couples of asylum seekers as soon as they entered Denmark.
Since women were under 18 at the time, the minister said she wanted to protect minors who were forced into marriage. However, no file had been examined by the immigration services. All couples, including those with very little age difference or children, were placed in different homes. Copenhagen especially wanted to discourage candidates for exile after the significant arrivals of Syrians in 2015. For the court, Inger Støjberg failed in his responsibilities and violated the European Convention on Human Rights. She should serve her two months in prison at home, with an electronic bracelet. But her sentence is final, she cannot appeal.
Inger Støjberg absolutely does not understand his condemnation. She even thought she was relaxed: “I am very, very surprised”, she said out of court. “It is a defeat, not only for me but for Danish values. “ Far-right parties cry scandal and denounce “a totally incomprehensible judgment”. In France, the president of the National Rally, Marine Le Pen, also provided her support. Inger Støjberg Besides, remains the former favorite minister of the Danes, who place immigration at the top of their concerns.
The Danish government, supported by the populist right, is pursuing a very tough migration policy, among the most restrictive in Europe. Between 2015 and 2019, Inger Støjberg boasts of having passed more than 110 amendments to restrict the rights of foreigners, which she said “pump the system”.
The former journalist – who has since become a member of Parliament again – likes to shock and provoke. In 2017, she posted a photo of herself all smiles with a huge cake decorated with a Danish flag and the number 50, to celebrate her 50th Amendment. This text makes it possible to abolish the allowances of immigrants who have committed an offense.
It was also she who, during her mandate, authorized the confiscation of money and valuables from asylum seekers to finance their care in the country. In 2020, when the former minister was no longer in office, Denmark became the first country in the European Union to re-examine hundreds of Syrian refugee cases to revoke their residence permits on the grounds that “the situation in Damascus “has become calm again.
At the start of the year, the Prime Minister recalled that her objective was “zero asylum seekersThe country is far from being overwhelmed by requests for international protection, however. There are fewer than six million inhabitants and last year around 1,500 people applied for asylum, the lowest number since 1998.