The tent camp was set up on the grounds of military barracks in order to begin hosting immigrants at a single day's notice, yet has never housed a single resident in several years.
The bill for the Vordingborg camp, hastily set up by the Danish government in 2015 at the height of the European refugee crisis, has amounted to DKK 20.8 (over $3 million), despite the fact that it has never seen a single resident and had its power supply cut off in 2016.
The camp was set up on the grounds of the Vordingborg military barracks, as hundreds of refugees were entering Denmark by ferry via the southern port of Rødby, Danish Radio reported. As of today, it remains the only refugee camp of this kind in the entire country, and could begin taking in refugees at a day's notice, should this become necessary.
The heating bill for the camp from 2015-16 reached DKK 2.9 million ($430,000), while running costs for the facility in 2016 reached a whopping DKK 11.1 million ($1.65 million). This year, as electricity and water supplies were disconnected, the cost plummeted to merely DKK 600,000 (almost $90,000).
Justice Minister Nick Hækkerup of the ruling Social Democrats stressed he intended to keep the facility in place but admitted that some changes may be made. By contrast, the Red-Green Alliance integration spokesperson Rosa Lund called the idea “stupid”, citing the decreased immigration pressure Denmark is currently facing. Proper accommodation centres are a…
