(CNN) — Faced by throngs of refugees seeking to travel through Denmark to reach Sweden — part of a wave of migrants putting Europe’s migration system to the test — Danish police have said they will allow them to move freely.
Many of the migrants who have reached Denmark want to get to Sweden because it is seen as giving refugees a warmer welcome.
Danish National Police Chief Jens Henrik Hoejbjerg said Thursday that the police alone made the decision to allow migrants and refugees to continue their travels, in accordance with Danish and international rules of law.
The move comes as EU nations scramble to deal with a massive influx of migrants — many of them fleeing Middle East conflict — the like of which has not been seen for decades.
Many of those reaching Denmark will already have made the arduous journey from Turkey to Greece by sea and then overland through the Balkans and Eastern Europe, before passing through Austria and Germany.
On Wednesday, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker set out proposals for mandatory quotas for EU states to take in 120,000 refugees who were already in Italy, Greece and Hungary, on top of plans made in May to relocate 40,000 from Italy and Greece.
Those nations are at the forefront of the crisis, thanks to transit routes across the Mediterranean and through the Balkans.
Austria’s national railway company said Thursday it has suspended train traffic to and from Hungary due to the massive congestion created by the influx of migrants.
The suspension is in place until further notice and no tickets to or from Hungary are currently being sold, Osterreichische Bundesbahnen said in a statement.
EU member states must still agree to the European Commission’s proposals. Their interior ministers are due to meet Monday to discuss the issue.
Germany, which has said it expects to receive 800,000 asylum applications this year, has said binding quotas are the only fair way for the 28-nation EU bloc to handle the crisis — but some other members are strongly opposed.
German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said Thursday that Germany had already registered 450,000 refugees this year, with more flowing in by the day. Some 37,000 were registered just in the first eight days of September, he said.
Newspaper ads to deter migrants
The Danish police chief said his officers could not continue detaining foreigners who are not seeking asylum in Denmark, with no prospect of being returned to their country of origin.
The decision was made without discussion with the Danish government, Hoejbjerg said, adding that there also had been no prior agreement with Sweden.
The Danish government has taken steps in recent days to try to stem the flow of migrants, including running Arabic-language advertisements in Lebanese newspapers warning would-be migrants of new, tighter restrictions for those seeking asylum in Denmark.
Since Wednesday morning, about 1,000 migrants and refugees have arrived in Denmark, making a total of 3,200 since Sunday, police said.
According to local news reports, some 400 have applied for asylum and been registered in Denmark. The rest have been allowed to continue their travels.
Passport controls
Danish authorities sought to curtail the movement of people trying to cross into Denmark on Wednesday by blocking access to some of the country’s highways and suspending some international rail traffic to conduct passport controls, causing delays to services.
By the evening, however, a number of migrants and refugees who had been waiting on a train for hours in the Danish town of Roedby were told of the relaxation of travel restrictions and, according to local news reports, were helped onward by private civilians giving them rides from the station.
As of Thursday, highways linking Denmark with Germany were open as usual.
Rail routes between Germany and Denmark were also operating fairly normally Thursday, said Martin Larsen, a spokesman for the Danish national rail company, DSB.
The only significant difference was to the trains between Puttgarden, Germany, and Roedby, where passengers must now disembark before the train goes onto a ferry carrying it from one side to the other and board the ferry on foot, Larsen told CNN.
Meanwhile, trains between Flensburg, Germany, and Padborg, a border town in southern Denmark, are running normally, he said. From Padborg, local trains run regularly to Copenhagen, the Danish capital.
Tougher restrictions
Denmark’s Immigration and Integration Minister Inger Stojberg, an immigration hardliner from the right-wing Venstre party, announced the moves to tighten restrictions on asylum seekers via Facebook on Monday.
“The aim is to inform (people) objectively and soberly about (Danish rules), which the government is in the process of tightening,” Stojberg said.
Denmark is high on the list for people smugglers helping migrants reach Europe, the minister said.
“I wish to change that because we cannot simply keep up with the present flow. In light of the huge influx to Europe these days, there is good reason for us to tighten rules and get that effectively communicated.”
The ads run in Lebanese newspapers state that Denmark has passed a law to reduce social benefits for newly arrived refugees by as much as 50 percent.
Other measures include ensuring that foreign nationals granted temporary protection in Denmark will not have the right to bring family members to Denmark during the first year; and that they can only be granted a permanent residence permit after a minimum of five years.
To get a permanent residence permit, refugees must also meet certain requirements in terms of learning the Danish language, the advertisement said. Anyone whose asylum request is rejected will be swiftly returned.
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