Denmark further extends border controls for another 20 days

The Danish government on Tuesday extended its temporary border controls on the German-Danish border for 20 days.

The border controls was first introduced on Jan. 4 after neighboring Sweden put in place an ID checks upon passengers from Denmark and extended on Jan. 13 for 20 days. It will be further extended until Feb. 23, according to the Ministry of Integration and Housing.

Integration Minister Inger Stoejberg said the border controls remain necessary as Denmark is still facing a high number of asylum seekers and migrants heading to Northern Europe.

She added that the border controls would still be implemented with random checks. "It has functioned as intended," the minister said.

Stoejberg said border controls were necessary because Sweden introduced border controls and carrier liability in the Danish-Swedish border.

"This means that we could risk a large accumulation of migrants in Denmark. This will provide a very unstable situation in Denmark. Therefore, we introduced border controls and extended it now," the minister was cited by Danish news agency Ritzau as saying.

According to figures from the government, about 1,400 asylum applications have been filed in Denmark since the beginning of 2016. The government expects to receive 25,000 asylum seekers this year, as against 21,000 in 2015. Endit