The Danish news agency "Ritzau" reported that people seeking asylum in the country will be sent to centers designated to consider their applications outside Europe, while they await a decision, under a new law passed by the Danish Parliament, Thursday.

The ruling Social Democrats and Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen introduced the bill, which won support from the liberal Finster Party during the vote.

The newspaper "Jyllands-Posten" reported that Denmark has so far discussed the issue with Egypt, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Tunisia, but that there are no concrete plans to build these reception centers, and Parliament must approve the conclusion of contracts with other countries.

This does not necessarily mean that migrants who are considered in need of asylum will be able to travel to Denmark afterwards. Instead of being granted asylum, they will remain in the country in which they applied, or they will be transferred to a UN refugee camp.

The United Nations refugee agency has criticized the Danish plans.

“Transferring the asylum and refugee protection process to another country outside Europe is not a responsible and sustainable solution, and would also contradict the principles of international refugee cooperation,” said Henrik Nordentoft, the UN refugee agency’s regional representative for the Nordic and Baltic states.