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| Denmark Discourages Migrants With Ads in Lebanese Newspapers | Denmark Discourages Migrants With Ads in Lebanese Newspapers |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| LONDON — The Danish government has responded to Europe’s growing humanitarian crisis with a barely veiled warning to migrants in Lebanon not to come to the prosperous Nordic country. | |
| Advertisements, which appeared in the newspapers As Safir, An Nahar and The Daily Star on Monday, advise those seeking to go to Denmark that the government recently toughened its rules. | Advertisements, which appeared in the newspapers As Safir, An Nahar and The Daily Star on Monday, advise those seeking to go to Denmark that the government recently toughened its rules. |
| The anti-immigrant sentiment was the latest sign of Europe’s inability to develop a coherent strategy to deal with the influx of migrants. While Britain, France and Germany announced measures on Monday to take in asylum seekers, Denmark and Hungary made clear that migrants were not welcome. | The anti-immigrant sentiment was the latest sign of Europe’s inability to develop a coherent strategy to deal with the influx of migrants. While Britain, France and Germany announced measures on Monday to take in asylum seekers, Denmark and Hungary made clear that migrants were not welcome. |
| The Danish ads underline the stringent regulations and constraints that await migrants: It can take five years to attain permanent residency; there are tough requirements to learn Danish; those who are granted temporary residency permits will not have the right to bring over family members in the first year after they arrive; and recent changes in the country have slashed welfare benefits for them by 50 percent. | The Danish ads underline the stringent regulations and constraints that await migrants: It can take five years to attain permanent residency; there are tough requirements to learn Danish; those who are granted temporary residency permits will not have the right to bring over family members in the first year after they arrive; and recent changes in the country have slashed welfare benefits for them by 50 percent. |
| Translated into several languages, including Arabic, the ads were published in Lebanon, where 1.4 million Syrians have sought refuge. Many of them live in difficult conditions in a country that is struggling to accommodate the influx. | |
| Inger Stojberg, the Danish integration minister, was quoted by the EUobserver, an online newspaper, as telling TV 2 News, a Danish broadcaster, that the ad campaign cost 30,000 euros, or about $33,500 — the same cost to accommodate a migrant for a year. Ms. Stojberg said the ads amounted to “good business,” given that they were likely to deter people from coming to Denmark. | Inger Stojberg, the Danish integration minister, was quoted by the EUobserver, an online newspaper, as telling TV 2 News, a Danish broadcaster, that the ad campaign cost 30,000 euros, or about $33,500 — the same cost to accommodate a migrant for a year. Ms. Stojberg said the ads amounted to “good business,” given that they were likely to deter people from coming to Denmark. |
| Danes ousted their center-left government in June elections, a shift that elevated the far-right Danish People’s Party, which has railed against Muslim immigration and the European Union. | Danes ousted their center-left government in June elections, a shift that elevated the far-right Danish People’s Party, which has railed against Muslim immigration and the European Union. |
| Denmark has consistently ranked among the world’s happiest countries, according to a United Nations index, but an influx of migrants has spurred a backlash and the center-right government has taken a tough approach to immigration. | Denmark has consistently ranked among the world’s happiest countries, according to a United Nations index, but an influx of migrants has spurred a backlash and the center-right government has taken a tough approach to immigration. |
| The country, which was once known for a humanitarian approach to foreign policy, has been deeply affected in recent years as some migrants have struggled to accept Denmark’s traditional liberal values. In particular, the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in a Danish newspaper prompted a violent reaction in the country as well as in some Muslim nations. | |
| The police in southern Denmark closed a highway late Monday, news reports said, when groups of migrants began to march toward Sweden. | The police in southern Denmark closed a highway late Monday, news reports said, when groups of migrants began to march toward Sweden. |
| Hundreds of migrants from Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and elsewhere have been passing through Denmark, via Hungary, in hopes of reaching Norway or Sweden, which have been more receptive. | Hundreds of migrants from Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and elsewhere have been passing through Denmark, via Hungary, in hopes of reaching Norway or Sweden, which have been more receptive. |
| In Greece, there were skirmishes overnight between the police and migrants on the island of Lesbos, which has been severely strained by the influx of migrants to the extent that the Greek immigration minister, Yiannis Mouzalas, said the situation was “one step before an explosion.” | |
| Migrants on Monday staged a march from their camp to the main port, demanding to leave the island. That came after violence over the weekend, when protesters and the police clashed and two teenagers were arrested after they threw homemade gas bombs at tents set up by migrants, injuring a Syrian man. | Migrants on Monday staged a march from their camp to the main port, demanding to leave the island. That came after violence over the weekend, when protesters and the police clashed and two teenagers were arrested after they threw homemade gas bombs at tents set up by migrants, injuring a Syrian man. |
| Greece, which is already struggling to deal with enormous financial problems, has appealed for €2.5 million in emergency aid from the European Union to tackle the problem. | |
| In Hungary, a crowd of several hundred migrants who had broken away from the makeshift arrivals area near the railroad crossing in Roszke gradually thinned out overnight as the police talked many into boarding buses for so-called reception camps. | In Hungary, a crowd of several hundred migrants who had broken away from the makeshift arrivals area near the railroad crossing in Roszke gradually thinned out overnight as the police talked many into boarding buses for so-called reception camps. |
| The migrants, many of whom want to go to Germany, began walking the 100 miles to Budapest on Monday, temporarily closing a main highway. | The migrants, many of whom want to go to Germany, began walking the 100 miles to Budapest on Monday, temporarily closing a main highway. |
| About 50 people slept in an underpass near the highway overnight, but temperatures fell into the 40s and by morning all of them, threatened with arrest, abandoned the march. They were bused to camps in Debrecen, in far eastern Hungary, and Bicske, a half-hour west of Budapest. | About 50 people slept in an underpass near the highway overnight, but temperatures fell into the 40s and by morning all of them, threatened with arrest, abandoned the march. They were bused to camps in Debrecen, in far eastern Hungary, and Bicske, a half-hour west of Budapest. |
| On Tuesday, Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban, said he wanted to accelerate the construction of a fence along the border to keep out migrants. Hungary has also introduced a law that would make crossing or damaging the fence punishable by prison or expulsion. | |
| In Britain, Parliament was to hold an emergency debate on Tuesday on the country’s response to the Syrian refugee crisis, the BBC reported, after several lawmakers said the government’s plan to accept 20,000 people from Syria over the next five years was woefully inadequate. | In Britain, Parliament was to hold an emergency debate on Tuesday on the country’s response to the Syrian refugee crisis, the BBC reported, after several lawmakers said the government’s plan to accept 20,000 people from Syria over the next five years was woefully inadequate. |
| Mr. Cameron said that Britain would accept up to 20,000 Syrians, but that they would most likely be limited to those applying for asylum from camps in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, rather than those already in Europe. The British government says it does not want to encourage migrants to undertake perilous journeys to Europe. |