Danes in Poll Tussle over Migrants

November 13, 2007

Author: Thomas Buch-Andersen

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7087474.stm

Immigration has become the central battleground in the Danish parliamentary election, which takes place on Tuesday.

Denmark's relations with the Muslim world reached crisis point in 2005 over a Danish newspaper's publication of Prophet Muhammad cartoons.

The leader of the opposition Social Democrats, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, proposes to relax restrictions on asylum seekers.

The centre-right Prime Minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, warns that such a move could turn Denmark into "a magnet for refugees".

Strict immigration policies have been at the heart of his government's programme since 2001.