The much-discussed ‘Keto Act’ has already been introduced in 2018. The word ghetto was used for some poor areas. These are environments with a non-Western background of at least 1000 people and simultaneously fulfilling two of the four criteria.

Criteria:

• More than 40 percent of the population is unemployed
• More than 60 percent of 39-50 year olds are not highly educated
• Crime rates are three times higher than the national average
• The average income is at least 55% lower than the regional average

Fifteen neighborhoods in Denmark fall under the ‘ghetto’ category. Consequence for residents: They are punished twice as severely as other neighborhoods for violations and children over the age of 1 are forced to go to day care. If parents do not do this, they will lose some contributions.

So now Dance takes it a step further. The government wants a maximum of 30 percent of non-Western immigrants in poor neighborhoods within 10 years. The term ghetto is dropped because, according to the Interior Ministry, it ‘does not do justice to the work being done in those neighborhoods’.

Danger to the welfare state

The idea behind this bill is that an over-welfare state of immigrants is at risk. “The Danish government says there is a risk that support for the welfare state will decline if more people do not unite,” Rune Stubber said. He is Professor of Political Science at the Danish Aarhus University.

“Minority groups make extensive use of the welfare state, which means they receive a lot of financial assistance. As the group grows, more money goes to immigrants. People do not want to pay for a group they do not feel affiliated with. Therefore, there should not be too many immigrants to keep the welfare state afloat.

Non-Western immigrants

By the way, non-Western immigrants are from the European Union, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino, Vatican City, Andorra, Canada, the United States, Australia or New Zealand.

A Danish human rights organization is concerned. “The alarm bells are ringing and there are already three lawsuits pending against the old ‘ghetto law’, all of which are supported by our organization,” said spokeswoman Nanna Margreet Crusa. “Because the law discriminates against minorities.”

“That’s why we’re going to look closely at this new bill. We need to reveal exactly what the bill will look like in the coming weeks and which groups will be affected, but discrimination is lurking.”

Strict immigration policy

Denmark is known for its strict immigration policy anyway. Significant for a country led by the Social Democrats, the center-left party. But there is an explanation for this, according to Stubzer, a professor of political science. “The Social Democrats lost the 2015 election because many say they do not have a clear position on immigration.

That changed when the current Prime Minister, Mete Frederickson, took the lead. Under his leadership, the party moved to the right. She was in favor of a strict immigration policy, so whether you agree with her argument that the welfare state is in danger, she provided it in a compelling way. “

Voices from the right

“It got a lot of votes from right-wing voters in the 2019 election. He won the election and is now prime minister,” Stubber said.

You would think that he would simultaneously lose votes to other left-wing parties because of a strict immigration policy, but in the Danish political landscape this seems less of a problem. “The smaller left parties do not want a right-wing government, so they go with the policies of the Social Democrats. They want to see it in power.”

“In Denmark you really only have two constituencies: one red bloc (left parties) and one blue bloc (right parties). So one party from the red bloc will most likely support a bill from another party in the red bloc. That is. They step in against the blue bloc completely. Even if you don’t agree. “

The bill will be voted on soon. The majority seems to be in favor.