This paper, written the request of the European Parliament’s Employment and Social Affairs Committee, describes the extent and nature of the inflow of asylum seekers to Denmark in 2014 and 2015 and the resulting political and public reactions. It goes on to describe the political, legal and practical changes that followed, with a focus on labour market integration, and provides recommendations for the way ahead.

Denmark, like most of Europe, granted a high number of refugee permits during the period from 2014 to 2016. This led to a new policy regarding refugee integration: some rights were limited in order to appear less attractive to new asylum seekers, and at the same time there was a more focused effort on making refugees self-supporting. Statistically, refugees and migrants have a much lower attachment to the labour market than Danes. Work is considered the main way of measuring integration in Denmark.

In response to the inflow of asylum seekers during this period, there were three main initiatives implemented:

1. Tightening rules on immigration, often explained by the need to reduce the number of asylum seekers in order to be able to integrate the refugees and immigrants already in the country. Social allowances were reduced with the aim of creating a stronger incentive to work.
2. New legislation and policy development to make it easier for refugees to find a way into the labour market and to make it more attractive for businesses to take part in the integration of refugees.
3. More flexible framework and new incentives for municipalities to help them succeed in their integration efforts, combined with new obligations for municipalities to become faster and more efficient.

This three-pronged approach appears to have been successful. The employment rate for refugees who have stayed in Denmark for three years was 20% in 2015, while in 2018 it increased to 45%. What is not known is how much each of the three initiatives has contributed to the success, and how much the success is rather the result of a favourable economic situation in the country in general.

Challenges that seem to be unresolved are the low number of women refugees who have entered the labour market and the fact that refugees who came before 2015 were not met with the same focused approach and support. Finally, the singular focus on work as being equivalent to integration leaves other important aspects in the shadows.