When Danes Pay Danegeld

One thousand years ago Scandinavians were the barbarians of Europe, spreading fear and extracting “Danegeld” from their more civilized neighbors. In the 21st century Scandinavians are peaceful and soft-spoken, and the roles seem to have been reversed with certain newly arrived immigrants. There are claims that immigration costs Sweden 40 to 50 billion Swedish kroner every year, perhaps even several hundred billions, and has greatly contributed to bringing the Swedish welfare state to the brink of bankruptcy.
In Denmark right-wing politicians are already debating the threat of immigrant “welfare tourists,” should the Swedish system collapse. In Norway almost half of all children with a non-Western background claim social security benefits. This is ten times the rate of the native population. A Danish commission concluded that Denmark could save 50 billion kroner every year by 2040 if it shut the door to third world immigration. At the same time, statistics indicate that Scandinavians will become a minority in their own countries within a couple of generations, if the current trends continue. While their political elites insist that immigration is “good for the economy,” Scandinavians are in reality funding their own colonization.
Although the cost of welfare is significant, it pales in comparison to the price paid through rapidly declining social harmony and increasing insecurity caused by Muslim immigration. Some of the increase in insecurity is due to the rise of mafia groups and organized crime, but most is mainly due to terror threats and intimidation of critics of Islam and Muslim immigration.
It is true that the Scandinavian countries have much in common, but the differences that do exist should not be underestimated. It was no coincidence that the issue with the Muhammad cartoons started in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, as Denmark is probably the one Western nation where the debate surrounding Muslim immigration is most mainstream and open. Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen’s centre-right government has imposed some of the toughest regulations in the EU on asylum seekers.
Unfortunately, this does not mean that Denmark’s problems are over. In 2005 attackers set fire to the immigration minister’s car. A leftist group calling itself “Beatte Without Borders” said it carried out the attack, condemning the government’s “racist immigration policies.” Muslim extremists have declared that the Danish PM and Defense Minister are legitimate terror targets because of Denmark’s participation in Iraq. Members of Denmark’s moderate Muslim community say they are reluctant to speak out with critical observations of their religion, fearing social isolation, threats and violence, and a Danish Jew was even attacked for reading from the Koran.

Complet article at The Brussels Journal

Denmark and Human Rights

Critics of Denmark's tightening rules on immigration and integration say the country is violating European norms, including human rights legislation. How much has Denmark's approach to these issues been transformed under pressure from a right-wing populist party?

There are new stricter requirements for would-be immigrants, and for those already in Denmark, who wish to marry a Dane. This is in addition to the already high minimum age of 24 for both the Danish and the foreign would-be spouse, proof of financial independence and an "active commitment to Danish society".
Anti-DPP protestors outside the Danish parliament Opponents of the new points system made their feelings known outside the Danish parliament

European and international bodies have pointed out that some of these laws and regulations could be in breach of human rights legislation.

Professor Margot Horspool, a specialist in European law at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, says that the restrictions on marrying foreigners "almost certainly breach European Union law in respect of discrimination as to ethnic origin, and possibly as to age".
She also believes the rules may violate EU legal protection of "the right to family life".

Another tightening of the rules prohibits state-funded hostels for the homeless from accepting foreigners who do not have permanent residency status. Reports say that this has led to people freezing to death in the sub-zero winter temperatures.
This, suggests Professor Horspool, breaks EU legal commitments not to subject individuals to inhuman or degrading treatment, laws that amount to an "obligation on the member state to ensure that humans are not left out in the street to freeze or indeed to starve."

The Danish government denies that its laws breach human rights, and says the 24-year age restriction is to prevent forced marriages.

All this is part, say critics, of a decade-long transformation in Denmark's approach to immigration and integration, under pressure from the populist Danish People's party, the DPP.
The DPP is led by Pia Kjaersgaard, a former social worker in an old people's home. "We founded the party because of too many immigrants," she says.
She likes to present a homely, common sense image. "I am very powerful," she told me, "but I am also just a housewife and mother".
Denmark's Muslim population are the party's particular focus. There are many Muslims, its says, who are unwilling to integrate and hostile to "Danish values" such as free speech.

Read more at BBC

Denmark-Germany underwater tunnel

Danish plans to build another direct link to Germany moved forward with the approval by parliament of an underwater tunnel. The completed project hopes to connect Hamburg with Copenhagen in just three hours.
Lawmakers in Denmark approved amended plans for another road-and-rail link to Germany on Tuesday, opting for an underwater tunnel that they say would be safer and more environmentally friendly than the bridge they had planned originally.
Both countries agreed in 2008 to connect the northern German island of Fehmarn with the Danish island of Lolland by building a road-and-rail bridge across the strait.
But the state-owned Danish firm Femern A/S presented lawmakers with modified plans for an 18-kilometer (11.6 mile) underwater tunnel. Seven out of eight parliamentary factions voted for the proposal, which kept the budget at around 5.1 billion euros ($7 billion).
Construction is scheduled to begin in 2014 and is to be completed in 2020.
German costs would be limited to connecting the tunnel with German infrastructure, estimated at between 800 million and 1.7 billion euros.

Source: Deutsche-Welle

Denmark – the cancer country

Denmark has been named as the world's cancer capital, with some 326 people in every 100,000 developing the disease each year.

One reason why Danish people seem to be particularly susceptible to cancer is that its record of diagnosing the disease is so good, meaning that more cases are picked up by the country's doctors than in most other parts of the world.
But there are also lifestyle factors which could be having an influence on the figures reported by the World Cancer Research Fund from the World Health Organisation.
A larger than average proportion of Danish women are smokers, while the country also has high levels of alcohol consumption, both of which have been shown to increase the risk of developing cancer.
The figures show that high-income countries tend to have higher rates of cancer than less developed parts of the world, with 13 European countries, the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand among the top 20 states for overall cancer rates.
This is likely to be due in part to better diagnostics in developed countries, but the tendency of wealthier populations to be more obese, consume more alcohol and get less exercise are also a significant factor.

From The Telegraph (with comments)

Turk beaten by guards in Danish prison dies

Ekrem Şahin, a 23-year-old Turkish inmate who was serving a two-year sentence in Denmark’s Kolding Prison passed away after he was severely beaten by prison guards and went into a coma.

Şahin, who was sentenced to two years on charges of robbery, was beaten by nearly ten prison guards after he refused to be transferred to another prison. His heart stopped after the incident and he was taken to the Odense University Hospital. His heart began beating following the doctors’ efforts but he remained in critical condition. Şahin died at the hospital on Saturday [Jan. 15th].

The Danish police, who earlier called the event resulting in Ekrem Şahin’s coma, “an ordinary, everyday event,” took action after the incident hit the Turkish press and the Turkish Embassy got involved. The Danish police have launched a widespread investigation into the incident in order to prevent it from escalating. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has also been following the incident.

Source: Today's Zaman

Quickies

1. Iraqi religious leaders to meet in Denmark (The Gulf Today)

2. Danish opposition demands answers on overflight leaks (AFP)

46% of expat foreigners don’t feel wanted or welcome in Denmark

Well-educated foreigners leave Denmark due to not being fully capable of settling properly. The reason usually mentioned is that they have a strong difficulty in becoming a part of the community, and building a social network. Families become isolated and are unable to find their “place” here.
However, many people mentioned that not only do they struggle with integrating they also feel that they are not wanted in the country. That was the trigger to look more closely into this topic and served as the motivation for conducting this survey and to determine if the related experiences of not feeling welcome were singular and only the experience of a few or if it is the experience of many. By examining the experience of a large number of people it is my hope that problems can be identified and solutions found to help bridge the gap between Danes and the international community.
The result: 46% of the participants don't feel welcome versus 26% who do. 28% gave a neutral answer. Considering that 98% of the 703 survey participants are well-educated, this is a very worrying result especially as Denmark claims the need for well-educated work-force from abroad.
The result of the survey gives a strong signal that there seems to be a problem, that foreigners don’t feel wanted here. This is not only unpleasant for the foreigners themselves and can influence them to leave the country (which in fact many do), but it can also have serious consequences for Denmark and its economy.
Openness, friendliness, “hygge”, and treating people equally is the Danish way.
Or do we have to say “was” the Danish way? Considering the results of the survey, many foreigners don’t seem to experience these Danish qualities. Hopefully they will not get lost in the current focus of protecting Denmark.

From Worktrotter (including very interesting comments)

Fraud investigation rocks Danish university

Neuroscientist quits after accusations of academic misconduct.

A high-profile neuroscientist in Denmark has resigned after facing allegations that she committed research misconduct and misspent grant money. Meanwhile, the administration at the university where she worked has been accused of ignoring her alleged misdeeds for the better part of a decade.
Milena Penkowa, a 37-year-old researcher who was lauded in 2009 by the Danish science ministry, denies all the accusations against her and stands by her work, but left her post as a full professor at the University of Copenhagen in December.

In an open letter released on 22 December 2010, 58 Danish scientists have called for a transparent review of the alleged misconduct, which spans much of Penkowa's career. Details were first reported by the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen.

The university contends that it dealt with that incident adequately, and that more recent allegations of misconduct are being handled by the Danish Committee on Scientific Dishonesty, which is independent of the university.

"A parallel internal investigation aiming to uncover other possible suspicions about scientific dishonesty would create confusion," said University of Copenhagen chairman Nils Strandberg Pedersen in a statement.

Penkowa has published nearly 100 peer-reviewed papers, and her research focuses on brain-repair mechanisms and the role of a metal-binding protein called metallothionein.

Penkowa climbed the ranks of academe quickly, becoming a full professor in 2009. Last year, she was named an elite young researcher by the Danish government. The IMK General Fund, a private foundation that funds medical research, awarded her 5.6 million Danish kroner (about US$1 million) in funds.

More at Nature

Danish grandfather

Quickies

1. Is it better to bring up kids in Denmark? (link)

2. Denmark Gives Away 2% of GDP to Carbon Credit Traders (link)

Cablegate and Denmark (II)

The Danes have drawn mixed lessons from their experience in the cartoon
crisis. These lessons have positive and negative implications for the U.S. On the good side, the Danes have stepped up engagement in promotion of democracy and reform abroad, especially in the Middle East. They now recognize the need to improve integration and outreach to the country's immigrant communities. Since the cartoon crisis, they have extended troop mandates in Iraq and Afghanistan. On the negative side, though, this popular center-right government has hardened its views on the absolute primacy of free speech. The prime minister appeared willing to let Jyllands-Posten dictate the timing of the next Islam vs. West confrontation without question or open discussion within the government. While this particularly vulnerable moment of the cartoon anniversary may pass without violence, our discussions this past week remind us that the Danish front in what they see as a clash of civilizations could reopen at any time.

Source: Wikileaks

Denmark's gang war

A bloody gang war between bikers and youths of immigrant origin has shattered Copenhagen's customary calm, prompting officials into threatening draconian legislation.
The latest street violence was sparked in August 2008 when a young Turkish man was killed, supposedly by a member of the Hells Angels group.
Since then, the conflict has left dozens dead or wounded - some innocent bystanders.
Not everyone agrees that the violence is part of a turf war over organised crime. Some see race and the so-called 'integration problem' as the chief cause.
Khaled Ramadan, an academic, artist and journalist, says that second and third generation immigrants are feeling frustrated by the Danish establishment.

There are concerns that the long-simmering feud will fuel existing anti-immigrant sentiment in a country where limiting immigration has become a cornerstone of government policy.
Immigrants account for about eight per cent of Denmark's 5.5 million people. Of these, there are an estimated 270,000 Muslims.
Many arrived in the 1970s from Turkey, Pakistan and Morocco to work in Denmark. In the 1980s and 1990s the majority of Muslim arrivals were refugees and asylum seekers from Lebanon, Bosnia, Iraq and Somalia.
Following the 9/11 attacks and the Madrid and London bombings, many immigrants feel that Islamophobia and racism is on the rise across Europe.
Denmark seems to have taken a turn to the right. Neo-Nazi groups have emerged with new slogans, such as "Denmark for Danes" and "close the borders", and many immigrants say they no longer feel welcome in Denmark.

More at Al Jazeera with video (23:29 minutes)