Its prisons are 100% full .. Denmark rents prisons in Kosovo

Denmark struck an agreement with Pristina to send 300 prisoners to Kosovo to reduce overcrowding in the kingdom's overcrowded prisons.

Last December, the two countries agreed that the Scandinavian country would rent 300 prison cells for an annual fee of 15 million euros ($16 million).

Denmark's prison population has risen by about 20% since 2015 to more than 4,000 people at the start of 2021, putting the occupancy rate above 100%, according to official data, while the number of guards has fallen by 18%.

"We have now signed a groundbreaking agreement that will ensure better capacity in our overcrowded prisons and will ease the pressure on our prison officers," Danish Justice Minister Nick Hekrupp said in a statement.

The prisoners will be sent to a prison in the town of Gilan - about 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the Kosovar capital, Pristina. In 2023, foreign prisoners will be deported after serving their sentences.

It is noteworthy that by 2020, about 350 prisoners were scheduled to be deported after completing their sentences in Danish prisons.

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