Denmark’s Immigration and Integration Ministry unveiled a stricter regime for monitoring illegal work by people not legally resident in Denmark but not subject to deportation on Monday.
In an official statement, the ministry revealed its efforts to combat illegal employment among people with so-called “tolerated residence” status – a term that refers to people who do not have a residence permit in Denmark but who cannot be expelled from the country, often due to a lack of repatriation agreements or the risk of facing a death penalty if deported.
In Denmark, there were some 172 people with “tolerated” status as of June, according to the Ministry, which reported a recent rise in cases of people with this designation working illegally and being paid.
Citing a specific case-based audit by the immigration authorities, the ministry also revealed that around 14 individuals may have received undeclared income in violation of the law, including a case of fraud amounting to more than 750,000 DKK (over €100,000) over several years.
Immigration and Integration Minister Kaare Dybvad Bek announced the implementation of several measures in response to these revelations.
“We must take immediate measures to check all persons with tolerated status,” Bek said in the statement, adding, “If any of them have been involved in illegal work or have received unauthorised income, we must, of course, report this to the police”.
The authorities have already started working on these issues, and the first police reports have been filed, Bek added.
In the future, the Immigration Ministry will conduct continuous monitoring to ensure compliance.
These checks will target foreigners with tolerated status and non-residents who no longer have legal residence in Denmark and are thus not entitled to work there. This group may include people with criminal records who previously had legal residence status before receiving a deportation order, the immigration minister explained.
(Charles Szumski | Euractiv.com)
Read more with EURACTIV
Dutch, Danish to intensify cooperation on carbon capture and storageDenmark and the Netherlands signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Monday on the sidelines of the EU Environment Council in Luxembourg, pledging to cooperate on carbon capture and storage (CCS) and CO2 transport.
Source: euractiv.com
