An increased proportion of Danish foreign aid is not going towards fighting global poverty and instead tackling other challenges, sometimes a lot closer to home, according to the 2015 national budget.
Of the 17 billion kroner, 6-8 billion kroner (about 35 percent) was allocated to assist such measures as dealing with refugees in Denmark, aiding international epidemics and disasters, and paying for international efforts involving the Danish police and defence.
“They obtain funds by cutting away at the funds set aside to generate development in the poorest countries,” Vagn Berthelsen, the secretary general of the Danish development organisation Ibis, told Jyllands-Posten newspaper.
“It’s a bit like the fire department going to put out a fire, but forgetting to do anything to prevent the fire from starting in the first place.”
READ MORE: Fewer Danes support donation of development aid
Echoes of WWII
In particular, a vast amount of the funds drawn off from the global poverty fund – 3.5 billion kroner – has gone to receiving refugees in Denmark and humanitarian disaster relief, such as from the conflict in Syria.
The trade and development minister, Mogens Jensen, confirmed the problem and attributed the development to the “greatest flood of refugees the world has experienced since World War II”.
In April, a survey for the Foreign Ministry showed that the number of Danes who support Denmark giving development aid to the poor countries of the world has fallen by 15 percent over the past five years.
