But she accepted that there had to be exceptions to the scheme. This is what former head of department in the Ministry of Immigration and Integration Affairs Uffe Toudal Pedersen says on Friday in the national court case against Støjberg.
– She has accepted that this must be the case. But it was not something that happened with applause, says Uffe Toudal, who is now retired.
He says that it came up several times in the course of the asylum couples in the spring of 2016.
– It was something she returned to many times, says Uffe Toudal and continues:
– Conversely, she took it to heart. We said to her: Yes, Inger we have been through it, but now we are going on, and she took note.
It was on 25 January 2016 that Inger Støjberg read articles about “child brides” at Danish asylum centers and decided that she wanted to separate minor asylum seekers from spouses and cohabitants.
Subsequently, a note was prepared in the civil service about the scheme, stating that there should be exceptions in special cases where there should be no separation.
In the Supreme Court, Støjberg is accused of having initiated and maintained an instruction on an illegal scheme without exceptions.
According to Uffe Toudal, there were also discussions with the minister when the memorandum was prepared.
– The note shaped our position. It was there, it became clear to everyone that you could not do it without exception, says Uffe Toudal.
The memorandum was approved by Støjberg on 9 February 2016. The next day, Støjberg went out in a press release and said that all couples should be separated – without mentioning exceptions.
Uffe Toudal says that he would have liked to have mentioned exceptions in the press release.
– There was room for exceptions. We had been through that. This was in opposition to the minister’s position that the main message was that a strict policy should be pursued in the area, says the head of department.
The interrogation of Uffe Toudal continues for the rest of Friday and is not expected to be completed until the next court hearing, which is Tuesday.
Source: The Nordic Page