The handshake requirement, which includes a provision that the wearing of gloves is unacceptable, is the latest in a series of Danish anti-immigrant measures that critics say are symbolically charged but serve little purpose. The government recently announced plans to isolate certain migrants it wants to deport
on a small, out-of-the-way island, and Parliament approved funding for the project on Thursday.
This summer, the Parliament
prohibited the wearing of face veils in public, although researchers say only about 200 Muslim women follow the practice in Denmark. In 2015, the country sharply cut social programs for asylum seekers, and a law passed in 2016 allows the authorities to
confiscate migrants’ valuables to help cover the cost of their stays in Denmark.
