Integration Minister Birthe Rønn Hornbech (Lib.) admits that her ministry has failed in its duty of information to a Danish-Thai couple.
”Sorry,” she said following an appearance in Parliament.
The couple were refused family reunion by the Immigration Service. The husband wrote a personal letter to the minister in February in which he asked whether it would make a difference if he moved to Germany.
If he had done so, he would have been able to use his rights as an EU citizen and avoid the strict Danish immigration laws. The Ministry for Integration, however, refrained from informing him of this possibility.
The Parliamentary Ombudsman, who investigated the case, criticised the ministry for not having fulfilled its duty to inform the public.
Hornbech regrets the case and says that the couple’s application for family reunion has been sent on to the Immigration Service who will be looking at the case again.
“We accept the criticism because it is very concrete as is the Ombudsman’s view. Of course we’ll give the man new and better information. I haven’t had contact with him, but we have said that we have sent it on to the Immigration Service,” the minister says.
