Denmark approves plan to send unwanted migrants to ‘virus’ island

The Danish parliament is set to vote on a measure that would see migrants sentenced to deportation but unable to return home sent to a 20-hectare island.

A plan to send migrants sentenced to deportation, but unable to return home due to risk of torture or execution to a tiny island is set to be approved by the Danish parliament.

The island is currently used by scientists from the Technical University of Denmark to research swine flu and rabies vaccines, among others, earning it the nickname “Virus Island” from the right-wing Danish People’s Party.

The UN criticised the plan earlier this month and it is seen as a symptom of Denmark‘s increasingly hostile stance towards immigration.

Al Jazeera’s Katia Lopez Hodoyan reports.