Former Danish minister Inger Støjberg has been sentenced to 60 days in prison for illegally separating young couples who had applied for asylum. “The problem is that this former minister has deliberately disregarded the law,” says correspondent Rolien Creton.
Støjberg, of the right-wing liberal party Venstre, was responsible for migration policy from 2015 to 2019 as Minister of Immigration, which was very strict. At that time, she ordered the divorce of at least 23 couples whose wives were under 18 years of age. They had to live in separate asylum centers. According to Støjberg, these were child brides and this was “the only humane and political action she could take against forced child marriage”.
But critics say the age difference between the couples was small. The teenage girls said they agreed to the marriage, and their partners were mostly boys and men between the ages of 15 and 30. Also, some couples already had children or were expecting a baby.
More and more criticism
According to correspondent Creton, it is very exceptional that the former minister is sentenced to prison. According to her, the point in this lawsuit is that no exception was possible in Støjberg’s policy. “And that’s against the law,” Creton says. “It has to be assessed on a case-by-case basis. There was also increasing criticism of this policy in Denmark. For that reason, the policy was canceled after more than six months.”
Støjberg expected to be acquitted, but a special court ruled that she violated the European Convention on Human Rights. In doing so, the court endorses the conclusions of the national ombudsman and a special parliamentary committee that investigated the forced divorces earlier this year.
“It was 26 Supreme Court justices who were strikingly in agreement,” Creton said. “According to them, Støjberg knew very well that this could not be done according to the law. She was pointed out many times by top officials and lawyers at the ministry.”
Støjberg, however, ignored the advice. “In that sense, this lawsuit was not really about child brides, because nobody wants that, but about a minister who deliberately ignored the law. That weighs very heavily in Denmark.” The former minister denies that she pressured her top officials to break the law.
Uninhabited island
From 2009, Støjberg held various ministerial posts in the cabinets of then Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen. Especially in her period as Minister of Immigration and Integration, Støjberg showed herself to be a hardliner. Under her rule, more than a hundred tightened immigration rules, such as making family reunification difficult, have been implemented.
She also devised plans to ban asylum seekers. “For example, she had advertisements placed in Lebanese newspapers to avoid coming to Denmark,” says Creton. “She was also the one who came up with the idea that criminal asylum seekers who have exhausted all legal remedies had to go to an uninhabited island. That never worked out.”
According to Creton, Støjberg is known as a politician who pushes the limits and the Danes are divided about her sentence. “But I think supporters and opponents are surprised that she received such a severe punishment.” Støjberg cannot appeal the ruling and must therefore serve the sentence.
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