A Danish lawmaker faced criticism on Thursday for saying boats carrying migrants could be prevented from reaching Europe by firing "warning shots" at them. "The only way you can do it efficiently is by simply turning the boats around and saying you cannot sail within this territorial border," Kenneth Kristensen Berth, a lawmaker for the anti-immigration Danish People's Party (DPP) said. "If you do that you will either be fired at or you will be turned around and sailed back," he said during a debate in Copenhagen on Wednesday.
In a Facebook post after the debate, Berth said he did not advocate "shooting at migrants" but that "warning shots" could be used against the ships carrying them.
A lawmaker for the ruling Venstre party, Jakob Ellemann-Jensen, said on Twitter that the remarks were "not okay" and that "warning shots are... a warning of what is to follow." "Of course you don't shoot at people who are fleeing. It shouldn't be necessary to say," Mette Frederiksen, the leader of the opposition Social Democrats, wrote on Facebook.
According to the U.N., at least 4,700 people have died, are missing or feared to have drowned this year while trying to cross the Mediterranean, while leaving refugees in dire need of help.
Denmark, known for its long history of high human rights standards, tolerance and openness, have become the least attractive country in Europe for refugees and asylum seekers with its anti-refugee policies. The country has not only reinstated border controls to stem the flow of refugees into the country, those who are already in the country have been slapped with a new refugee law which aims to make the country an unwanted destination for migrants, scaring them away by imposing harsh policies; stripping refugees of jewelry to pay for their aid and potentially sending them to state-backed refugee villages with extended waiting periods for family reunification of up to three years.
