Denmark to Put Its 'Unwanted' on a Deserted Island

What's a country to do with migrants who are also criminals and rejected asylum seekers who can't be sent home? Banish them to an island, apparently. That's Denmark's plan, which its immigration minister sums up as making such foreigners feel "unwanted in Denmark." The New York Times highlights details that will serve that aim—like the fact the 17-acre Lindholm Island is currently used by scientists studying contagious animal diseases, houses a crematory, and is serviced by two ferries, one of which is named the Virus. The Local describes the island as "deserted."

Deserted was the appearance given to the island in a cartoon video tweeted by the right-wing Danish People's Party, which pushed for the arrangement. The video shows a "dark-skinned man being dumped by ship" there, per the Telegraph. The immigrant facilities—slated to open in 2021 so long as legal challenges don't get in the way, per Fortune—will hold up to 100 people, and while the word "prison" isn't being used, those who are sent there will have to sleep there and submit to daily check-ins, and the plan is to whittle down the ferry service and "make it as cumbersome and expensive as possible." The Times has more on the political maneuverings behind the move, and critics of it, here. (More Denmark stories.)