Only in Denmark

Government proposes end to “point system”

kutubuku — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 18:39:31 +0000

URL: http://www.cphpost.dk/news/making-cut-immigration-dk/government-proposes-end-%E2%80%98points-system%E2%80%99

Disagreement over strictest family reunification rules set to split opposition

When the government presents a bill to parliament today proposing to scrap the controversial ‘points system’ for family reunification, it could get the support of half the opposition as well.

“The points system doesn’t work optimally. There are things that need to be adjusted, and we want to help those adjustments happen,” the opposition Konservative (K) party’s immigration spokesperson, Mike Legarth, told Politiken newspaper.

Just last summer K helped their former coalition partners, Venstre (V), and Dansk Folkeparti (DF), implement the current points system for family reunification, which requires non-EU spouses of legal Danish residents and citizens to earn the right to stay in Denmark by amassing ‘points’ for higher education, full-time work, Danish language skills, community service, and other criteria.

The criteria are so strict – and the minimum number of points needed to qualify for residency is so difficult to achieve – that a number of highly-educated, top-earning spouses have been unable to make the cut. In September, it was reported that the number of resident permit approvals had fallen by 70 percent due to the points system.

That result has led K, another opposition party, Liberal Alliance (LA), and many business organisations to protest the same strict rules that the left-of-centre parties Radikale (R) and Enhedslisten (EL) have condemned on civil rights grounds.

“At a time when the business community needs competent workers from outside, a person can be hired by a Danish company at a high salary and still not be able to get residency for their spouse if the spouse doesn’t also have a full-time job,” K immigration spokesperson Mike Legarth explained to Politiken.

LA political spokesperson Simon Emil Ammitzbøll said his party was also ready to negotiate with the left-of-centre government on the immigration rules, “if we think it will pull Denmark in a more liberal direction”.

LA does not, however, support the plan to reduce the cash ‘security deposit’ required for non-EU spouses from 100,000 to 50,000 kroner, as the government is proposing. Ammitzbøll told Politiken that foreigners ought to be able to prove they can support themselves without help from the welfare system by putting 100,000 kroner in escrow.

According to V immigration spokesperson Inger Støjberg, if the points system is scrapped – and it appears there is a majority behind that decision now – Denmark “is going back to the situation we had earlier, where people who didn’t contribute to Danish society were coming to Denmark.”

Støjberg added that the proposal to end the points system bore the signature of R, as opposed to the other governing partners, Socialdemokraterne (S) and Socialistisk Folkeparti (SF).

“There’s no doubt that this here is a softer immigration policy. Nor is there any doubt that it’s clearly the Radikale who have prevailed once again in this government,” Støjberg told Politiken.

The justice minister Morten Bødskov (S) told Ritzau that the government intended to “stick to a robust and fair immigration policy” based on the 24-year-rule [the rule that the Danish spouse and the non-EU spouse both must be at least 24-years-old to qualify for residency in Denmark] and tilknyttning, the requirement that the family proves that it has a stronger connection to Denmark than another country.

But the points system, Bødskov said, had turned out to be “bureaucratic” and “an obstacle to normal, well-functioning families being able to live together”.

Besides, the justice minister added, “Danish businesses have also complained about it”.

If the government’s proposal is passed in parliament, the points system for family reunification could expire in mid-February. Another immigration ‘points system’ – in which an immigrant residing in Denmark on a temporary permit must amass 100 points through work, language, and volunteer requirements, in order to earn a permanent residence permit (opholdstilladelse) – would not be affected by today’s proposal. However, the government has indicated that it will take up changes to permanent residence permits later this spring.

Overqualified immigrants outnumber overqualified natives

kutubuku — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 18:36:42 +0000

URL: http://www.cphpost.dk/news/making-cut-immigration-dk/over-qualified-immigrants-outnumber-over-qualified-natives

Experts point to meager language skills, misunderstandings and discrimination as causes

Are you over-qualified for your current job? Your chances of being so are greater if you are an immigrant, according to a recently-released study from the European Commission’s statistical bureau Eurostat.

In Denmark, 24 percent of immigrants are over-qualified for their jobs, whereas just 14 percent of people with traditional Danish backgrounds are.

Immigrants were also three times as likely as native-born Danes to be unemployed, according to the study. Albeit, unemployment rates for both groups were low – just two and six percent, respectively – in 2008, the year statistics for the study were gathered.

The figures come from the 2008 European Labour Force Survey and pertain to native- and foreign-born workers aged 25-54 throughout the 27 EU states.

People were considered ‘over-qualified’ if they had more education or experience than their current jobs required.

Despite the significant gap, immigrants in Denmark still fared better than the EU average, according to the study. Across the 27 EU countries, more than one-third of foreign-born workers were over-qualified versus just one-fifth of the native populations’ workers.

Moreover, Denmark also appeared to be a little ahead of its Nordic neighbours at utilising the skills and knowledge of immigrants, the study showed. Whereas Denmark showed a ten percentage point difference in over-qualified immigrants versus natives, point differences were even higher in Sweden (20 points), Norway (17 points), and Finland (12 points).

Chantal Pohl Nielsen, a senior researcher at AKF, a Danish research institute specialising in public management issues, said Eurostat’s report confirmed her observations.

“That’s certainly the tendency we’ve seen from earlier studies,” Nielsen, an expert in immigration and the Danish labour market, told Politiken newspaper. “More immigrants than Danes work at jobs that they are actually, from a formal standpoint, over-qualified for.”

Nielsen proposed a few possible reasons for the discrepancy. One of them could be that Danish employers fail to understand the significance of immigrants’ foreign educations and experience, and therefore fail to properly evaluate their CVs.

Educations from non-Western countries, where school systems are significantly different than the Danish system, were most likely to be misunderstood and undervalued, she said.

Nielsen emphasised that this meant it was especially important for immigrants in Denmark to get their foreign degrees recognised and translated into Danish terms at Styrelsen for Universiteter og Internationalisering.

She suggested that Danish employers also needed to become more open and flexible to fully exploit the skills and expertise that immigrants bring to Denmark.

Vibeke Jacobsen, who studies immigration issues for the national social research centre, SFI, had another explanation for the employment gap: poor Danish language skills and a limited Danish network.

“You have a harder time getting a job if you can’t speak and write fluent Danish. That’s obvious. On top of that, it’s difficult to find the right job in Denmark, if you don’t have a strong network here,” Jacobsen told Politiken.

She added that discrimination might also play into it.

“Studies have shown that foreigners are discriminated against in the Danish job market. That could be part of the reason. If that’s so, then immigrants could very well be forced to look for jobs that are below their qualifications.

Rejected asylum seekers trapped in the system for 10 years

kutubuku — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 14:43:02 +0000

URL: http://jp.dk/indland/article2656633.ece

68 asylum seekers, including several children, has been in the Danish asylum system for more than 10 years.

In the last 10 years, it had been impossible to send 68 rejected asylum seekers back in their countries, and they are therefore stuck in the Danish asylum system for 10, 12 or maybe 15 years according to the new data.

Normally, the Immigration Office only publishes the average length of stay (about 500 days), but question from a committee from Enhedslistens Johanne Schmidt-Nielsen has discovered a group, people who have been in the asylum system in a very long time. It is unknown how many of the 68 who came here as children, but 7 are still minors according to the figures.

Several reports have demonstrated that long stay (in the asylum center) can result in psychological trauma and suicide attempts as well as bad economics.

“It’s a human catastrophe that someone is sitting so long in an uncertain situation,” says Johanne Schmidt-Nielsen.

The long stay is caused by the fact that it’s impossible to send the people back while they refuse to leave Denmark voluntarily.

Will not soften the rules

The Immigration Act has an amnesty clause that a rejected asylum seeker can still get a residence permit, if it’s been “futile” to send him / her out in 18 months. But this amnesty rules demands on cooperation, and therefore it is only used once in 2010 and certainly not in 2011, according to preliminary figures.

Both the Alliance and the Radical government partner will lower cooperation requirement.

“It is incomprehensible to me that the clause was not used,” says the radical immigration spokesman Zenia Stampe.

Liberale will not soften the rules down.

“The Radicals are known not to neglect a single opportunity to erode foreign policy, and this is no exception,” says integration spokesperson Inger Støjberg (V).

Justice Minister, Morten Bødskov, stands firm that refused asylum seekers as the 68 to return home:

»Danish Aliens Act is based on the principle that an alien who has been definitively rejected by the independent Refugee Board, must leave.”

He will later this year negotiating with the Alliance and Liberal Alliance to lower the requirement for cooperation when it comes to who should be allowed to live outside the asylum centers.

American millionaire to be deported

kutubuku — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 12:25:23 +0000

URL: http://www.jv.dk/artikel/1258098:Varde–Oksboel–Amerikansk-millionaer-skal-udvises-fra-Danmark

American Martin Lowenheim, 78, should leave Denmark tomorrow.

The former co-director of television series M * A * S * H has wealth an amount equivalent to four million dollars in two bank accounts in the U.S. and a U.S. pension plan.

Martin Lowenheim lives in Oksbøl and is married to Carol Jorgensen, originally American, but became a Danish citizen in 1988.

The reason for the deportation is that the couple had closer links with the U.S. than in Denmark.

According to the Immigration Service, the aging American is deported tomorrow Sunday 8 January, although he is financially independent.

Attorney Erik Astrup has appealed the decision to the Justice Minister Morten Bødskov (S), and Martin Lowenheim will not travel tomorrow as Immigration Service requires.

- As far as I can see, the matter is not dealt with by the Immigration Service. There is a standard letter, says Erik Astrup.

His reason is that that Martin Lowenheim is too ill to take a trip across the Atlantic. The American has a bad pancreas, and he is using a wheelchair.

MP Hans Christian Thoning (V), who himself lives in Oksbøl, has now investigated the matter. He will raise the issue with the government and the doubts that have been taken into account Martin Lowenheims health.

Carol Jorgensen is originally from the U.S. but has lived in Denmark since 1967. She is not sure she can emigrate back to America.

- I don’t want to. I am Danish says Carol Jorgensen.

Minorities misrepresented in Danish media

kutubuku — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 11:12:05 +0000

URL: http://www.b.dk/english/minorities-misrepresented-in-media

Ethnic minorities are generally ignored in ‘Danish’ domestic news stories.

According to a new study, Immigrants from a Media Perspective, ‘new Danes’ represent no more than 5 per cent of sources for Danish news coverage even though they form 10 per cent of the population – and when they are asked to comment it’s usually in connection with criminality, social benefits, or forced marriages. 23 year old Samira Nawa, head of the Danish Youth Council, who was born and raised in Denmark, called it a ‘dangerous trend’.

“Media outlets should be more aware that there’s a lot of people out there reading newspapers or watching TV and if the only reference to non-Danes is as outsiders, in stories concerning criminality, Islam, or violence, then that’s the image that sticks,” she said. ” All immigrants aren’t like that and have views about many other topics than integration and Islam.”

Aydin Soei, head of the ‘Responsible Press’ association, said to Politiken that the media should be better at using minorities as ‘everyday cases’. “One of the main reasons that minorities mistrust the media is because they are often unable to recognise the image that’s portrayed. They could be highly professional people yet as a group they’re generally dismissed as criminals”

DF wants guarantee against non-Danish police officers

kutubuku — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 08:56:16 +0000

URL: http://www.b.dk/politiko/df-kraever-garanti-mod-betjente-uden-dansk-statsborgerskab

Minister of Justice must – according to Danish People’s Party — guarantee that immigrants without Danish citizens should not be allowed to become police officers in Denmark.

DPP integration spokesman, Martin Henriksen, calls Justice Minister Morten Bødskov (S) for a meeting in integration committee where the Minister asked for a guarantee that immigrants without Danish citizenship can not be policemen in Denmark.

This happens even after the Justice Minister quoted in today’s Berlingske that he rejected the radical (B) proposals to relax rules for police academy admission.

Martin Henriksen, Minister of Justice has clearly rejected the Radical proposals. Why is it necessary to have a guarantee?

- Because the Left before the election came with the same proposal, backed Social Democratic proposal up. Danish People’s Party was the only party that marked that we were clearly opposed. After the election, the Social Democrats against, but the Radicals still wished for it. We have previously observed that the Radicals could push the Social Democrats to change course. Therefore we would like to see the minister in the eye and ask him about a warranty.

With all due respect, it does not paranoid to claim a guarantee, when the Minister has already said no to the Radicals?

- Well, if past history was such that the Social Democrats have a tradition of putting the Radicals in place so you could call it a little paranoid. But now it is the Radicals, that puts Social Democracy in place in different contexts. We just want to be sure that the Social Democrats’ change of stand.

Why would it be so terrible if there are police officers without Danish citizenship?

- If you are a Danish police officer, the same unconditional loyalty lie with the Danish people. And we can be more confident that this is so, if the officer is a Danish citizen.There have been suggestions in the discussion that immigrants can not become police officers. But they may just become a Danish citizen.

But it’s not a tremendous distrust of the police to require such a guarantee – implied that the police can not weed out dubious candidates?

- No, I think it is a mark of respect. Danish People’s Party acknowledges that it is such an important work that we must be sure that when they hire someone in the police so that their loyalties lie with the Danish society. And the warranty is in citizenship.

Visa problems for 27 countries

kutubuku — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 08:42:49 +0000

URL: http://politiken.dk/newsinenglish/ECE1498405/visa-problems-for-27-countries/

Businessmen and tourists from 27 countries have visa problems

EU President Denmark has made it almost impossible for businessmen and tourists from 27 countries to come to the country.

Qatar, for example, which is the world’s third richest country has seven flights to Copenhagen, but its citizens can no longer get a visa for Denmark in their own country. The same is the case for Bahrain and Libya.

The problem has arisen because Denmark has previously had visa issuance agreements with other Schengen countries in those territories where Denmark itself does not have a diplomatic representation.

But in September last year, the Integration Ministry suspended representation agreements with Finland and Germany, and France followed suit on January 1. The reason being given is that Denmark causes administrative problems for the other countries as Danish immigration authorities have to be involved in both applications and refusals for security and immigration policy reasons.

“We have this type of agreement with more than 30 countries and it works fine using normal procedures. The problem is that the Danish authorities do not want to follow normal procedures,” the French Foreign Ministry Deputy Spokesman Eric Bosc tells Politiken.

A Danish Foreign Ministry spokesman says that Denmark’s interests are at stake.

“The result is that it becomes more difficult to get a visa to Denmark, and that is unfortunate. It affects trade, tourism and families and friends who want to come here,” says Ole Brix Andersen, Head of Department at the Foreign Ministry’s public service department.

Citizens from the 27 countries are not completely prevented from coming to Denmark – but they have to take a trip to another country that still has an agreement with Denmark in order to get a visa.

Human rights commission criticizing Denmark

kutubuku — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 07:45:53 +0000

URL: http://www.information.dk/288395

After Justice Minister Morten Bødskov’s refusal to review 75 cases in which Denmark may have breached the Human Rights Convention by denying children stay, Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner of the Government asks the minister to reverse its decision. Radicale Venstre agrees with the Commissioner and will now take up the matter with the Minister

Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner, Thomas Hammarberg, is now criticizing the government as Minister of Justice Morten Bødskov (S) has refused to review cases where children may have been denied residency in Denmark in violation of the ECHR.

“If the authorities have reason to believe that they may have made decisions on an improper basis, the authorities should endeavor to find cases and rectify the mistakes,” says Thomas Hammarberg to Information.

The question of whether a breach of ECHR in cases of residence for children arose after Denmark in summer was sentenced by the European Court of Human Rights in the so-called Osman case.

In this particular case was the Somali girl Sahro Osman refused to return to his family in Denmark, after she unwittingly had been sent to reeducation travel to Kenya, and according to the Strasbourg court was in violation of her Convention protected the right to family life. Since the Immigration Service has identified 75 cases where children in similar circumstances have been refused to return to Denmark, but even if these matters in light of the ECtHR decision in Osman case may have been settled on the wrong basis, Morten Bødskov therefore not launch an review of the cases.

‘As good as you can’

Thomas Hammarberg will find it obvious that “you should investigate the cases thoroughly.” Like Hammarberg’s Commissariat, European Court of Human Rights is under the European council , and Thomas Hammarberg stresses that the international tribunal is a central institution of human rights:

“Strasbourg Court has determined that it was an improper decision to refuse (in the Osman case, Ed.), And if you will take the court’s decision seriously, you should also make sure that you have not made mistakes in similar of cases. “

Morten Bødskov has explained to parliament that the 75 cases that the Immigration Office has identified ’not necessarily represent all the cases where the sentence may be relevant. “ Subsequently, the SF’s legal spokesman, Anne Baastrup has told Information that it would be discrimination to review the 75 cases, because words can be ‘many more cases where there might be mistakes. “

But that reason doesn’t hold ground, says Thomas Hammarberg:

“That there may be additional cases that were settled on the wrong basis, is no argument for not reviewing the known cases,” he says.

“It is often the case when it comes to human rights, that you can not correct all errors, but that does not mean that one should refrain from correcting the error, you can find. One must make it as good as you can. “

Discord in the government

As previously described in the Information, the government parties before the election agreed with SF ’politician Karina Lorentzen’s words that it was “objectionable” when the former integration minister Søren Pind (V) as a result of conviction of Denmark alone would change the practice in future and would not undergo the 75 cases identified by the Immigration Service.

But after the election the Social Democrats and SF then changed her position on the matter. It has attracted strong criticism from Enhedslisten, and now the announcement from Thomas Hammarberg also the ruling Radicale Venstre to stand firm against Morten Bødskov.

“We will respect human rights, and it also means that we clean up after VKO,”says RV’s immigration spokesman Zenia Stampe.

“I understand that it can be difficult to identify all cases, but I agree with the Commissioner, that we must do it as best we can, and review the 75 cases. This is about children who have had a very severe punishment, because their parents have made a wrong choice. I will take it up with the minister. “

Justice Morten Bødskov writes in an email to info that “Denmark takes the European Court of Human Rights very seriously.” And while the minister will not to undertake a review of the cases, he will now initiate an enhanced information campaign about the importance of Osman’s case.

“Coming on the basis of the enhanced information campaign contacted the Immigration Service on cases that are similar to Osman case, the Immigration Service has indicated that it concretely in each case will determine whether there are grounds for reopening the case,” writes Morten Bødskov to Information .

FACTS

Osman case
Since tightening of the Immigration Act of 2004, the authorities have been able to deny children and adolescents who have had a residence permit in Denmark, from returning to the country if they were sent to reeducation travel.

As a 15-year-old was Sahro Osman, who had a residence permit in Denmark, against his will sent to reeducation trip to Kenya by the parents, but when she as a 17-year-old turned on the Danish embassy in Kenya, rejected the Immigration Service, that she again could stay in Denmark. A decision by both the Ministry of Integration, City Court and High Court upheld.

On 14 June decided the European Court of Human Rights that Denmark had violated Sahro Osman rights under ECHR Article 8 on the right to family life. The Court emphasized in the decision that there must be very serious reasons not to grant an exemption from forfeiture of a residence where a child has had the formative years of his life in a country and its close relatives in the country.

What the lawyers say
Both the former integration minister Søren Pind (V) and current Attorney Morten Bødskov (S) points out that there may be many more cases that are similar Sahro Osman case, than the 75 by the Immigration Service immediately been able to identify.

Lecturer in administrative law at Aalborg University Stone Bønsing have indicated to Information that the authorities can not refrain from investigating cases that may have been errors on the grounds that there might be several error cases handled. ’How the principle of equality not. It was rather a duty to correct the mistakes you can find if it can reasonably be done, ‘said Stone Bønsing

Asylum Head of the Danish Refugee Eva Singer, who is a lawyer specializing in immigration law, has criticized Justice Information Minister’s reasons for not reviewing the 75 cases. ’The argument does not hold, either legally or from a right angle. Probably some of the 75 cases in light of the ruling is definitely wrong and it should correct, “she said.

Master’s degree from CBS is “undanish”

kutubuku — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 07:20:15 +0000

URL: http://cbsobserver.dk/node/2159

Naturalization office at Ministry of Justice has refused a candidate from CBS Danish citizenship.

The reason was that the candidate’s MSc training in Finance and Strategic Management from CBS did not meet the requirement that education must be “of the Danish character”. CBS’s master degree was regarded as un-Danish, because the teaching and examinations only occurred in a language other than Danish.CBS can not understand why and is investigating into the matter.

Graduate from CBS was turned down for Danish citizenship
Bulgarian Pavlina Ivanova is a candidate from CBS – she wrote and submitted his thesis in 2010 and graduated with a MSc. degree from the Finance and Strategic Management line. She also finished her bachelor from CBS – she completed her BSc in Business Administration and Service Management in 2007. She came to Denmark for 7 ½ years ago – in 2004 – specifically to study at CBS.

Pavlina Ivanova has always earned her own money in Denmark. She has permanent residence and work permit. She has full-time work – Risk Underwriter in an international credit insurance company in Denmark. She has had since 2009 when she was headhunted by a CEO of an insurance company at a career fair. It was the reason why her thesis was delayed.

Pavlina Ivanova was really happy for Denmark. She wants to be a Danish citizen. She has applied to become a citizen twice now – both times she has been denied. The reason why she was rejected from the Ministry of Justice (Naturalization Office) for the second time around was somewhat remarkable. Therefore, she turned to CBS.

MSc. in Finance and Strategic Management from CBS “not of Danish character”
The Ministry of Justice (Naturalisation Office)’s rejection letter dated 16 November 2011 said that in Pavlina Ivanova application to obtain Danish citizenship by naturalization, it appeared that “the Ministry does not consider that you may be covered by the rules of § 11 of Circular Letter No. 61 of 22 September 2008 on guidelines for naturalization, since one can not consider your education MSc in Finance and Strategic Management from CBS to satisfy the condition that the education must be “of the Danish character” since the teaching and examinations in the program exclusively occurred at a language other than Danish. “

It was new. A MSc degree from CBS are developed and offered on a state-financed Danish university that is accredited by ACE Denmark, and approved by the Ministry of Education (which even has a Board of International Education to promote the internationalization of the Danish education at all levels below it) and is regulated by the Danish legislation on equal footing with CBS ‘other programs.Should it be un-Danish? Not according to CBS’s glasses.

The CBS education board answered the letter to the Justice Ministry: “it seems most surprising and quite incomprehensible that the Justice Department without further ado – and without that CBS has been heard about it – categorizes than of our education as not being of Danish nature explained only in the training conducted in English. “

CBS protest grounds to Education Ministry and Danish Universities
At CBS, we can not accept that the issue of teaching and exam language may be qualified reason to distinguish whether some MSc specializations can be considered to be of more Danish character than others. CBS is actually that the case has such a fundamental nature and implicates so problematic aspects of our programs that the education board has informed the Ministry of Education on the matter and expect that from here will bring the case to Justice.

- MSc. CBS ‘flagship education at graduate level. It is remarkable that a government agency without the knowledge of university research and knowledge production may determine whether a Danish accredited and state-funded education is the ‘Danish’ or not. I must assume that the Education Ministry as our supervisor has the right to make such an assessment, said education dean Molin CBS OBSERVER and elaborates:

- To the MSc. line is taught in English is irrelevant. A wide range of CBS (and other Danish universities) courses taught in English, which of course does not alter the basic fact that there is education funded by the Danish government, developed, offered and implemented in a Danish context, with a positive Danish accreditation.

Education Ministry lawyers in examining the matter
CBS ‘Board was briefed on the matter at the Board meeting on Thursday 15December, and here was clearly indicated that CBS can not be seated at that university’s graduate programs can be described as being “not of the Danish character”.

CBS OBSERVER has contacted the Ministry of Education to get an opinion from the Minister for Education Mr Morten Østergaard (Radical). From here it is informed that the Ministry’s lawyers are currently investigating the matter, and that the Minister can only speak when the procedure is finished.

Father guilty of giving daughter home

kutubuku — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 23:20:18 +0000

URL: http://www.dr.dk/Nyheder/Andre_sprog/English/2011/12/20/131917.htm

The City Court of Copenhagen has found the father of a 16-year-old girl guilty of illegally providing a home to his daughter because she is an illegal alien in Denmark.

Lakhlifa Khallad was charged with allowing his own daughter to live with him. According to the indictment, he should instead have asked her to leave the country.

The daughter is 16 years old and has been living in Denmark for the last five years – but she has not been able to obtain a residence permit. She came to Denmark from Morocco because her mother had a new husband who did not want to look after her, and following the death of her grandmother with whom she was subsequently living.

The court found the father guilty, but a majority of judges thought that he should not be punished.