there will be an election in denmark sometime this year. and that's increasingly obvious from the heightened political rhetoric. it's also obvious in the media coverage.
our newspaper is, on a daily basis, turning up the heat on the sitting government coalition - investigating their policies - especially as they apply to immigrants. and the stories they've uncovered don't paint a pretty picture. they paint a picture of a government that increasingly kowtows to the conservative and foreigner-fearing
dansk folkeparti.
a new law went into effect in january. it affects how
foreigners in denmark are approved for both work permits and permanent residence. it sets high standards for education (more points if you come from an arbitrary list of the world's top 20 universities) and work experience, as well as danish language skills (how you're supposed to learn passable danish outside of denmark, i'm not sure and they don't say anything about that).
when the law first passed, there was a calculator online and i put in my data and was relieved to see that i would qualify. however, i put in my husband's data and i'm afraid that he, as a native-born dane, didn't meet the point requirements. i have to wonder how many of the legislators enacting this system would qualify.
recently,
information has covered several foreigners in denmark who were turned down for permanent residence:
~ one young man of afghan parentage, who is about to depart on his second mission to afghanistan as an interpreter with the danish military, was turned down because he didn't display "active citizenship." apparently serving denmark on what will now be a second dangerous mission in afghanistan isn't enough citizenship for the immigration office.
~ a young american who has been in denmark since 2003, completed a danish master's degree with top grades and is married to a dane and works in the social ministry was turned down because she didn't work enough while she completed her full-time education.
~ a young mexican woman, who has been in denmark in a full-time job for six years is denied permanent residence because her recent return to a full-time university education cancels out her six years of work experience and she has to start the qualification time over.
it makes me quite happy that i "got in" and gained permanent residence before all of this absurdity began. tho' i am increasingly worried about what kind of place i'm now a permanent resident of. and it's not just on the immigration front - yesterday, it came out that the new media agreement that funds the state-owned danish radio - which has a fleet of channels on both television and radio - mandates that they are now to "give special weight to the christian cultural heritage." excuse me? but WTF? denmark is one of the most secular places i've ever seen. the people attend church only for the big events...birth, marriage, death and the odd christmas service. that the national television station has to have a christian bent is absurd beyond belief and cannot be what the people in this democracy actually want. it's nothing more than a thinly veiled stab at other religions, especially islam. and it's worrying, to say the least.
but all over europe these conservative, we-must-keep-ourselves-to-ourselves parties are on the rise - whether it's geert wilders in the netherlands or the sweden democrats (i recently saw the head of that party flayed wide open on BBC's
hardtalk). there are dictates about showing outward signs of religion - e.g. head scarves, tho' the sweden democrat leader fumbled around when it asked if that included not publicly wearing a necklace with a cross. because it turns out that it didn't. i won't go into the whole head scarf question here, as i've ranted on long enough, but if you're interested, poet has written a very
excellent post on the implications of the whole debate around headscarves.
i'm not saying that i'm ready to move back to the US on the next boat, as it's even worse there (i recently found out my own aunt is a regular viewer of fox "news!"), but i think the trend is a very worrying one indeed. where in the world will reason reside?
