--- title: Denmark Refugee Crisis: Country May Seize Valuables description: Lawmakers in Denmark are considering a law that would allow officials to take jewelry from refugees who arrive in the Scandinavian country canonical: https://time.com/4154393/denmark-refugee-crisis-jewelry-and-valuables/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-18T01:08:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T13:28:58.718Z article:section: World og:title: Denmark May Take Jewelry and Valuables From Refugees og:description: Officials say the law is intended to help cover expenses. og:url: https://time.com/4154393/denmark-refugee-crisis-jewelry-and-valuables/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbe458f2d8474d63f/698875fdf887dcef2de93ce3/dennmark-refugees.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Denmark refugee crisis og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Denmark May Take Jewelry and Valuables From Refugees twitter:description: Officials say the law is intended to help cover expenses. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbe458f2d8474d63f/698875fdf887dcef2de93ce3/dennmark-refugees.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Denmark May Take Jewelry and Valuables From Refugees  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Dec 18, 2015 1:08 AM CUT  Police organize the line of refugees on the stairway leading up from the trains arriving from Denmark on Nov. 19, 2015 Police organize the line of refugees on the stairway leading up from the trains arriving from Denmark on Nov. 19, 2015Johan Nilsson—AFP/Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Dec 18, 2015 1:08 AM CUT Denmark is [considering](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/12/17/denmark-wants-to-seize-jewelry-from-refugees/?tid=sm%5Ftw "undefined") a new law that would allow officials to take jewelry and other valuables from refugees who arrive in the Scandinavian country. The law, [reported](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/12/17/denmark-wants-to-seize-jewelry-from-refugees/?tid=sm%5Ftw "undefined") by the Washington _Post_, would allow authorities to search migrants “with a view to finding assets which may cover the expenses,” a Danish official told thepaper. The official said the country would not seize objects needed to survive like phones and watches or objects with sentimental value. If passed, the legislation would be the latest step the nation has taken to discourage the millions of Syrian refugees from seeking shelter within its borders. Denmark has also slashed benefits for newly arrived refugees and [taken out an advertisement](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34173542 "undefined") in a Lebanese newspaper to discourage potential migrants from trying to reach the country. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4154393/denmark-refugee-crisis-jewelry-and-valuables/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4154393/denmark-refugee-crisis-jewelry-and-valuables/"},"headline":"Denmark May Take Jewelry and Valuables From Refugees","datePublished":"2015-12-18T01:08:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:28:58.718Z","description":"Officials say the law is intended to help cover expenses","url":"https://time.com/4154393/denmark-refugee-crisis-jewelry-and-valuables/","keywords":["Denmark"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbe458f2d8474d63f/698875fdf887dcef2de93ce3/dennmark-refugees.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbe458f2d8474d63f/698875fdf887dcef2de93ce3/dennmark-refugees.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Denmark refugee crisis","caption":"Denmark refugee crisis","creditText":"Johan Nilsson—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/denmark/","name":"Denmark"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4154393/denmark-refugee-crisis-jewelry-and-valuables/","name":"Denmark May Take Jewelry and Valuables From Refugees"}}]}] ```