Denmark targets ZERO net migration as tough border policies see asylum numbers cut in half
Denmark targets ZERO net migration as tough border policies see asylum numbers cut in half
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Denmark has set its sights on hitting zero net migration as the country's border policies have so far seen asylum numbers cut in half.
In a bid to win over working-class voters, the ruling centre-left party has clamped down hard on immigration.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s Social Democrat party came to power in Denmark in 2019 vowing a clampdown on immigration as well as generous welfare handouts.
After holding onto power in a 2022 snap election, the party said how important migration policies are to the working-class of Denmark.
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Immigration minister Kaare Dybvad Bek said: "If you want to be a party of the working class and middle class, you have to ensure that migration has a manageable level."
Successful asylum bids had almost halved by the party's second year in office, from 85 per cent in 2015 to 44 per cent in 2020. Now, the Social Democrat party is targeting zero net migration.
Social Democrat MP Rasmus Stoklund told The Sun on Sunday: "I don’t think it’s surprising that a left-wing party is tough on immigration. The part of society that bears the brunt of unchecked migration is the working-class population that we should be representing.
"The people most affected by open borders are those that don’t have economic resources. It is their children who have to go to schools that experience cultural clashes. It is those people who have to experience the criminality and social problems that follow."
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Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen with Rishi Sunak
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The hard-line policy of the Social Democrats saw support for right-wing parties, including the populist Danish People’s Party, collapse in 2019, falling from 21 per cent in 2015 to 8.7 per cent.
Denmark had planned to create a processing centre for asylum seekers in Rwanda, although its efforts have similarly been defeated.
Another scheme implemented is the Danish policy of "enforced gentrification". A list of 19 vulnerable areas has been published, where more than half the population has been labelled "non-Western", and there has been an accompanying rise in social problems.
Children in these areas are made to attend at least 25 hours of preschool for lessons in Danish culture, with those who don’t comply potentially having their benefits cut.
The Danish government has been cutting down on migration
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Huge housing estates have also been demolished in a bid to force non-Westerners to disperse.
Copenhagen optician Kenn Magnussen told The Sun: "In Denmark, we believe in community. If immigrants want to integrate, they can.
"If they don’t, that is a problem. For instance, some migrants come from countries where women don’t work traditionally. But in Denmark, everyone works.
"We only have 20,000 unemployed out of a population of 5.8 million. It’s because we all want to do the right thing. That is the Danish way."