Expelled foreigners quickly returning to Denmark

Opposition parties calling for stiffer punishments – maximum sentence is currently ten days in prison

Close to half of all the criminal foreigners expelled from Denmark break the law by quickly returning, according to a new report from the national police Rigspolitiet. And the trend is on the rise.

Some 476 expelled criminal foreigners were arrested after returning to Denmark in 2014 – a sharp rise from 171 in 2007.

”We can see that up to half of the criminals who have been given entry bans return to commit new crime within one year, Tormod Christensen, a deputy police inspector at Rigspolitiet's national investigation centre, told TV2 Documentary.

The vast majority of the figures include criminals who specifically come to Denmark to commit crimes such as burglaries, and Rigspolitiet is convinced that there are many more who defy their entry ban without being caught. Others are caught over a year after returning to Denmark.

READ MORE: More foreign criminals being deported

Tougher penalties
The statistics revealed that of the criminals who return to Denmark to commit crime, the vast majority come from eastern European nations, with Romania finishing top of the list.

A number of political parties, including Dansk Folkeparti and Konservative, have called for an explanation for the returning criminals who, as it currently stands, face a maximum of ten days in prison if caught. Konservative wants that increased to one year in prison.

”The sanction people face for entering the country despite an entry ban is so ridiculously low that no criminal foreigner worries about it,” Tom Behnke, the Konservative spokesperson on judicial issues, told Jyllands-Posten newspaper.

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