Seems that growing numbers of the followers of the Prophet are reporting verbal abuse, "exclusion" and "hate crimes" since Denmark's mainstream political parties began adopting the anti-immigrant policies of the Danish People's Party. To win back increasingly Islamophobic voters, both the ruling centre-right Liberal Party and the opposition Social Democrats are saying... now... that a tough stance in immigration is needed to protect Denmark's cherished welfare system and to integrate (if possible) the "refugees" and other migrants already in the country.
The number of immigrants (and their numerous descendants) from Middle Eastern and African shitholes who have allegedly experienced discrimination because of their ethnic background rose to 48% last year from 43% two years earlier, according to the Danish National Integration Barometer.Although government statistics don't make any connection between racist incidents and the tone of the immigration debate, the fact is that the number of racially or religiously motivated hate crimes registered by Danish police jumped to 365 in 2017 from 228 the year before.
"If people are ready and willing to be part of Danish society and want to contribute to it, then we invite them to become part of one of the best-functioning societies in the world. But we need to be able to discuss openly if there are problems with groups of people," said a spokesthingy for the Liberal Party, citing the large number of immigrant women from the Middle East who have not found work in Denmark.
About 5.5% of Denmark's population now identify as Muslims. That's a slightly higher proportion than in other countries of western Europe. Large numbers of them arrived in the tidal wave of "refugees" who washed ashore in Europe in 2015. Earlier this year, the government passed a law that would mean more refugees could be repatriated, the latest move to discourage non-western immigration. See "New Danish law: refugees will no longer become immigrants!", WWW 23/2/19.
The law was passed with support from the anti-immigration Danish People's Party, a key ally of the minority government, and the Social Democrats, the country's biggest party, which has hitherto had a softer stance on immigration. It means residence permits for refugees will be temporary, there will be a limit on the number of family reunifications, and a cut in benefits for immigrants.
The Liberal Party said lower benefits would encourage people to work. Less than half of the "refugees" who have lived in Denmark for more than three years were employed by the end of 2018. However, only 19% of Muslim women had jobs compared to 57% of men. But while employment has risen (at the end of 2015 it was only 20%), assimilation of immigrants has not kept pace. Government stats show that more young men descended from non-Western immigrants commit crimes than Danes. [Do we keep those kind of statistics here? Ed.]
The Social Democrats, notionally even more liberal than the Liberals, have repeatedly said they want to limit the number refugees. Party leader Mette Frederiksen said earlier this month, "You are not a bad person, just because you are worried about immigration." The shift to the right by Denmark's mainstream parties has parallels elsewhere in Europe. But it may come too late not just for the liberals but for the Danish People's Party itself, which is facing competition from far-right parties the New Right and Hard Line, the latter a new grouping that wants Islam banned and Muslims deported. "Conservatives" take note!
Note from Ed.: I was looking for a "Mohammed cartoon" to accompany this article, and clicked on the bookmark I had saved for a blog called "Creeping Sharia", which was hosted by WordPress. Guess what? It has been removed "for violation of our Terms of Service". Freedom of speech is being restricted a little more every day, even in America, where it's supposed to be protected under the First Amendment to the Constitution.
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