Andreasen, ‘Restrictive Immigration’, 2026

Kamille Munch Andreasen, ‘Restrictive Immigration: The Reduction of Support Provisions for Vulnerable Asylum Seekers’, Mobile Working Paper Series No. 93, University of Copenhagen, 2026

Abstract

This paper, which extends from a student master’s project, seeks to understand the impact of Danish immigration policy on vulnerable asylum seekers. It departs from the closing of Centre Jelling to investigate the consequences of reducing costs by closing accommodation with specialised inclusivity provisions for queer asylum seekers. Therefore, I examine the Danish hardline approach to immigration and asylum to understand the conditions created for asylum seekers. The paper builds on contemporary literature of queer migration and Nordic asylum models, with a particular focus on Denmark. From a poststructuralist perspective, I apply concepts of biopower and structural violence to understand the positioning of queer asylum seekers in an increasingly restrictive framework. The paper is supplemented with three expert interviews with persons working in asylum in Denmark. The paper finds that the Danish state is continuing its turn towards deterrence and restriction in asylum and immigration policy. This is demonstrated by the recent decision to close Centre Jelling, an asylum centre with special provisions for vulnerable groups. Queer asylum seekers are known to be more vulnerable, as acknowledged by the Ministry of Immigration and various civil society actors. Yet through continued cuts to the Danish asylum system, they are put in increasingly precarious positions. This paper finds that worry for the lives of queer asylum seekers was a major theme within civil society. The paper argues that the Danish model’s emphasis on restriction creates deliberately intolerable conditions for asylum seekers, which can potentially systemise harm at a structural level.