An immigration minister was forced to flee a deportation centre in Denmark after an angry mob of rejected asylum seekers surrounded her during a tense visit.
Inger Støjberg was protected by security guards while being escorted from the building where she was filming a current affairs programme.
Another MP, the Red-Green Alliance party’s Johanne Schmidt-Nielsen, was also at the Sjælsmark deportation centre and the group had visited an Iraqi Kurd family to discuss conditions for children living there when tensions boiled over.
Denmark’s immigration minister Inger Støjberg was forced to flee a deportation centre after tensions boiled over with rejected asylum seekers
Police and security guards escorted Ms Støjberg to her car at the Sjælsmark deportation centre but angry migrants followed her out
Inger Støjberg, the Danish immigration minister, was forced to flee a deportation centre after tensions boiled over with angry asylum seekers
Police and security guards were forced to intervene and rescue Immigration and Integration minister Støjberg, according to a report from broadcaster DR, who were filming their 21 Søndag current affairs programme.
Dramatic footage showed the minister being confronted by an angry woman who had to be held back by security guards.
The immigrants follow the minister to her car before one desperate woman throws herself on the bonnet as she is driving away.
The minister was unhurt in the incident, North Zealand Police told Danish newspaper Politiken.
Journalist Martin Torpe told DR: ‘When we came outside after the visit, the atmosphere started getting aggressive. Residents started gathering around Støjberg.’
A crowd of around 40 people gathered outside while the minister spoke with the Iraqi Kurd family, it was reported.
Torpe added: ‘Some people were shouting and taking hold of her. Eventually she was escorted to the minister’s car. Then a number of people gathered around the car and attempted to prevent it from driving away.
‘A woman who was very upset threw herself on to the hood while the car was moving.
As Ms Støjberg drove off, one desperate woman threw herself on the bonnet of the car
A police officer immediately ran over to the woman and tried to grab her before she could jump on the car
As the BMW vehicle sped off, the woman could be seen lying in the middle of the road while camera crews, police and asylum seekers watched on
Nobody is thought to have been seriously hurt in the incident
‘As far as I could see, (the protesting woman) fell down in front of the car and may have been hit a little,’ he said.
Ms Stølberg, a member of the centre-right coalition government, thanked police after the incident.
She said: ‘After talking to a family of rejected asylum seekers, I came outside where about 40 people had gathered. Here the situation developed dramatically when the group became very excited. I ended up being evacuated out of the centre.
‘I would like to thank both the bodyguards and the ministerial driver very much for the effort. Without you, it could have ended completely wrong.’
Nobody is thought to have been seriously hurt in the incident.