(Translator’s note: Danish politics use the catch-all phrase for policy and discussions germane to foreigners, asylum-seekers, and immigrants: “udlændingepolitik”, i.e. “foreigner policy”.
The term is quintessentially Danish and captures the sentiment of whom are perceived as non-, or un-, Danes.
As such, I have preserved the term, though it may sound odd to people unfamiliar with the Danish discourse. I’ll add an asterisk in the cases where I have used the direct translation.)
By Pia Kjærsgaard, August 11, 7:41 AM CET 2014
These days, Jews in Europe are paying a high price for the armed conflict between Israel and the terror organisation Hamaz in Gaza. Even though the Jews have been a part of the Jewish culture for centuries, they are now threatened by a group of aggressive Muslim immigrants, who carry in their luggage from the Middle East an inextinguishable hatred towards Israel.
This means Jews in this country—and probably other parts of Europe as well—must hide their identity. It can be particularly dangerous to wear the traditional Jewish kippah, and in some places, people have even been discouraged from displaying their religious identity due to the risk of physical assault.
Obviously, it’s different with Muslims—where the women are allowed to wear scarves, burka, and niqab.
I think it’s sad for Europe and sad for Denmark. The continent, which has exported democracy and enlightenment, is now not even capable of protecting its own citizens from assault. Yes, it is not only sad; it is, in fact, a disgrace.
It goes without saying that the Muslim immigration, which has taken place in recent decades, and which under the current administration has been increased, is a ticking time bomb under the traditionally, especially tolerant Danish society. Here, there has always been room for diversity, and the Danes have historically been accepting towards immigrants from many different countries.
But now, our historical tolerance is more or less threatening itself. The intolerant Islamists aren’t able to tell resident Jews from Israel, which makes their hatred to boil over, when they spot a Jew or a Jewish problem. One wonders whether the problem is improved on, when asylum-seeers from Syria are currently flowing into the country---from a country and a culture, which has always been hostile towards Israel?
No, the flow of refugees---or shouldn’t we rather say immigrants, because that’s what many become eventually---threatens both our welfare society and stability as well as the cohesion in our country. More refugees result in an increased load out in the municipalities, which exacerbates the growth of parallel societies with their own norms and rules.
The government is sitting idly by, while the situation develops. Mum is the word. The government’s sole "contribution" to the foreigner policy* has been a continued relaxation of rules, such as the removal of the financial benefits for foreigners ["starthjælp"] and the limit to financial benefits ["kontanthjælp], as well as loosening the rules for earning a residence permit.
(Starthjælp was a financial aid for foreigners, which was less than the corresponding Kontanthjælp Danish citizens receive, ed.)
Similarly, the government has also embraced the automatic transformation from asylum-seeker to immigrant by allowing asylum-seekers to stay outside the asylum centres to work or get an education. It is the recipe for making asylum-seekers to remain in the country permanently and eventually bring over more family members.
When the Danish People’s Party passed several significant restrictions on the foreigners with the former government, I remarked on integration that “you can only start cleaning up, once the faucet is shut”. The government has opened the faucet, and the water is pouring all over the floor. The integration is futile due to its complete inability to keep up with the influx.
Assault on Jews is but one of many symptoms of a foreigner policy* that has failed completely. The Syrian fighters is another. Here, we are seeing that seemingly “well-integrated” young people, who speak Danish and have taken a degree, still pledge allegiance to an inhuman ideology, when they involve themselves in acts of terror in Syria. They need to have their residents permit and citizenship taken away.
I can get all dizzy, when I contemplate the work ahead of us of fixing the last years’ development. But in the Danish People’s Party, we’re ready to roll up our sleeves and get to work.