It was dark and out in the evening at the Ministry of Justice, when the lawyer Nina Holst Christensen on 9 February 2016 was visited by head of department Lykke Sørensen from the Ministry of Immigration, who wanted to hear if all asylum couples could be separated without exception, where one is a minor.
This was rejected by Nina Holst Christensen, who is committed and has the legal competence in relation to human rights and EU law.
– It is very unusual to be told by a good colleague in another ministry that a minister wants to announce something that it is not possible to implement, she remembers when she testified in the Instruction Commission on Wednesday.
They both agreed on the assessment.
Nevertheless, the press release was sent out on February 10 and was not followed up by other written instructions, so it was administered accordingly.
The then Minister of Foreign Affairs Inger Støjberg (V) has said that she pressed for removal of wording on exceptions.
Thus, the press release was not accurate. And when it became an instruction that was administered according to, it was illegal.
On the same day and before the press release was issued on 10 February, Lykke Sørensen again passed the Ministry of Justice.
Nina Holst Christensen asked whether there was a need for the Ministry of Justice to intervene in the case to strengthen the agency’s position vis-à-vis Støjberg, which would prefer an exception-free scheme.
She remembers that Lykke Sørensen said that “the race is over”.
– Regardless of the fact that the Ministry of Justice agreed, it could not be changed that a scheme would be announced that now minor asylum seekers would be separated at the asylum centers, says Nina Holst Christensen.
Along the way, it has become clear that there is no written trace of many of the significant decisions in the case. This is because, explains Nina Host Christensen, that they had an informal relationship with each other because they were former colleagues.
A few days later, the two had another meeting where they talked about the next phase, which consisted of drawing up guidelines on how to assess who can be separated.
At the meeting, it was discussed that this was the next thing that the officials in the Ministry of Immigration should discuss with the Minister.
– It will be the next thing we have to deal with in relation to the minister. To make the minister realize that it must be communicated that there are necessary exceptions, says Nina Host Christensen that there was talk of.
During Lykke Sørensen’s interrogation, she said that the officials in the Ministry of Immigration warned the minister that there should be exceptions.
This was rejected by Nina Holst Christensen, who is committed and has the legal competence in relation to human rights and EU law.
– It is very unusual to be told by a good colleague in another ministry that a minister wants to announce something that it is not possible to implement, she remembers when she testified in the Instruction Commission on Wednesday.
They both agreed on the assessment.
Nevertheless, the press release was sent out on February 10 and was not followed up by other written instructions, so it was administered accordingly.
The then Minister of Foreign Affairs Inger Støjberg (V) has said that she pressed for removal of wording on exceptions.
Thus, the press release was not accurate. And when it became an instruction that was administered according to, it was illegal.
On the same day and before the press release was issued on 10 February, Lykke Sørensen again passed the Ministry of Justice.
Nina Holst Christensen asked if there was a need for the Ministry of Justice to intervene in the case to strengthen the agency’s position vis-à-vis Støjberg, which would prefer an exception-free scheme.
She remembers that Lykke Sørensen said that “the race is over”.
– Regardless of the fact that the Ministry of Justice agreed, it could not be changed that a scheme would be announced that now minor asylum seekers would be separated at the asylum centers, says Nina Holst Christensen.
Along the way, it has become clear that there is no written trace of many of the significant decisions in the case. This is because, explains Nina Host Christensen, that they had an informal relationship with each other because they were former colleagues.
A few days later, the two had another meeting where they talked about the next phase, which consisted of drawing up guidelines on how to assess who can be separated.
At the meeting, it was discussed that this was the next thing that the officials in the Ministry of Immigration should discuss with the Minister.
– It will be the next thing we have to deal with in relation to the minister. To make the minister realize that it must be communicated that there are necessary exceptions, says Nina Host Christensen that there was talk of.
During Lykke Sørensen’s interrogation, she said that the officials in the Ministry of Immigration warned the minister that there should be exceptions.
Source: The Nordic Page