VOTE OF CONDEMNATION No. 35/XIII
FOR THE APPROVAL OF CERTAIN PROVISIONS ON IMMIGRATION AND ASYLUM
BY THE PARLIAMENT OF THE KINGDOM OF DENMARK
On 26 January the Danish Parliament voted by a large majority to adopt a new legislative
package in the area of immigration and asylum which provides for the possibility of
confiscating assets over and above the value of EUR 1 340.00, in the possession of refugees
who have been permitted to stay in the country.
This legislation constitutes, both from a humanitarian point of view and from the most
basic respect for the rights enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights, to
which the Kingdom of Denmark is a signatory, a shocking precedent. What has already
been internationally dubbed the ‘jewellery law’, in addition to attracting historical
comparisons repugnant to the universal conscience, and that of Europe in particular,
signals a clear step backwards in political, legal, social and civilisational terms. It is a
decision where the balanced consideration of solutions and human solidarity have given
way to a popularism that is contrary to the values of humanity and civilisation, whose
European origins do us more credit than anything else, and which inspired the essence of
the construction of a united Europe after 1945.
Therefore,
Unable to remain indifferent in light of these worrying developments, the Assembly of the
Republic expresses its vehement rejection of the passage of legislation by the Kingdom of
Denmark that allows the Danish authorities to seize the property of refugees from war, in
flagrant disregard for the fundamental values inherent to Human Dignity.
São Bento Palace, Lisbon, 28 January 2016