Denmark's immigration minister says he gained "valuable insights" on a trip to Nauru to study Australia's controversial offshore asylum seeker processing setup, as Europe seeks ways to fix a dysfunctional immigration system plagued with mass drownings.
In recent years tens of thousands of asylum seekers have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea trying to reach Europe. Many also die in overcrowded trucks crossing the Sahara Desert in northern Africa, the United Nations refugee agency says.
Danish immigration minister Kaare Dybvad Bek last week travelled more than 13,000km from Copenhagen to the tiny Pacific Island nation of Nauru, which has hosted an Australian-run immigration detention centre on and off since 2001.
During his eight-day study tour, Mr Dybvad Bek also held talks with Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, federal MPs and human rights organisations in Canberra.
"I had a prolific trip, which gave me lots of valuable insights and lessons," Mr Dybvad Bek told AAP in Copenhagen.
"I learned much about both the pros and the cons of the cooperation between Australia and Nauru."
Like the United Kingdom, Denmark also proposed sending asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing. But it has since shelved the idea and is now seeking a broader European approach.
In May, Denmark and 14 other European Union member states wrote to the European Commission urging a major policy rethink to tackle irregular migration.
So far this year, more than 115,000 asylum seekers arrived in Europe by boat and 2204 died or are missing, according to the International Organisation for Migration.
Mr Dybvad Bek said since 2014 more than 30,000 people have drowned or disappeared on their way to Europe.
"The current situation is deeply inhumane and an insult to humanity," he said.
"The Danish government only wishes to engage in solutions in line with our international obligations and responsibilities, including the European Convention on Human Rights."
Australian Greens immigration spokesman David Shoebridge met with Mr Dybvad Bek and told him "Very clearly: do not go down this path" and copy the Australian playbook.
"A national asylum policy that deliberately harms innocent people who are only seeking protection is a race to the bottom, where you will squander billions in public funds and degrade your collective values," Senator Shoebridge told AAP.
"Australia's more recent history on asylum seekers should also be a lesson, but in what not to do and how to avoid your politics sinking to a moral low."
Human Rights Watch Australia director Daniela Gavshon told Mr Dybvad Bek that Australia's "failed offshore detention regime" on Nauru and Manus Island in Papua New Guinea has caused "immense suffering".
"It has led to widespread human rights violations and has taken a devastating toll on the physical and mental health of refugees and asylum seekers," she said.
Ms Gavshon noted at least 14 people kept in offshore detention had died since 2012 including through alleged medical neglect, suicide and one was murdered by guards on Manus Island.
Vibe Klarup, Amnesty International Denmark's secretary-general, likened Nauru to "an open-air prison" and said the kingdom should focus on increasing its refugee intake and allow Danish embassies to process asylum claims so people don't undertake perilous journeys.
"From a human rights perspective, there are no good lessons learned from the very costly Australian model," Ms Klarup told AAP.
Danish political commentator Erik Holstein from Altinget characterised Mr Dybvad Bek's trip to Nauru as "a little controversial because of the horror stories".
However, he noted there was strong support in the Danish parliament and society for a tough immigration policy because Danes had seen Sweden pursue a more open migration policy and its neighbour was now grappling with "Islamist parallel societies" and high migrant gang crime rates.
Denmark has copped increased criticism in recent years for not accepting a fair share of refugees on a per capita basis.
According to Eurostat, in 2023 Denmark had 2355 asylum applications compared to Norway's 5135. Iceland which has a small population of 380,000 people had 4120 applicants while Germany had 329,035 asylum claims.
