COPENHAGEN: Outraged residents say they will resist a “racist” Danish law which allows large numbers of people to be evicted from social housing in areas where the authorities say there are too many immigrants.
“It’s straight up racism,” said Jawad, a doctor from Mjolnerparken in central Copenhagen, which is surrounded by rapidly gentrifying areas.
“Even though I was born and raised in Denmark, in the statistics I’m a non-Western immigrant,” the 29-year-old said.
Denmark passed a controversial law in 2018 to redevelop poor urban “ghettos” with high concentrations of immigrant populations by 2030.
It involves rebuilding and renovating rundown estates and changing the social mix by renting 60 per cent of the homes at market rates.
For decades Denmark has had one of Europe’s most restrictive immigration policies, with populist right-wing parties often stoking anti-immigrant rhetoric.
“Our apartments are not for sale!” said banners strung across Mjolnerparken, with locals saying that using their ethnicity to decide where they can live is discriminatory and illegal.
Eight out of 10 people in Mjolnerparken are deemed “non-Western”, with people from non-EU countries in the Balkans and Eastern Europe also falling into that category.
The Mjolnerparken residents are suing Denmark, with European Court of Justice due to rule in the coming months.
Thomas Monberg, spokesman on housing issues for the ruling left-wing Social Democrats, insisted that the aim of the law — which will compel 11,000 people to move — is good.
Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2023
