HarthorneWingo wrote:JM88 wrote:WajaBawl wrote:Wow, I was literally coming into this thread thinking I'd be the only Danish guy on this board. What the hell JM88
Obv jk
Nice dude! Where in Denmark are you from?
Nice! Yeah, like i said, i don't see so many danish Knicks-fans, so good to meet one in here. I do imagine though, that there are more NBA fans on RealGM (like magnumt) pointed out. Just like with football (yes, to me it's football - not soccer!
, some of us decide to be quite a nerd about the sport. The american forums are just a bit more interesting. Anyways. I'm born in Aarhus, but Copenhagen has been a bigger part of my life, and that is where i have been living for a while (well, sometimes, like now, in a Copenhagen suburb).
What's immigration like in Denmark these days? I don't suppose it's letting in any Americans, are they?
Alright. So no Melo trade by 5.45 today, so i'll go straight to the hot topic of danish politics instead, i suppose.
Let me start out by clarifying that, although some things are facts, the way most, if not all people, perceive the politic going on is affected by ones own beliefs, i think. So i will tell you that while i am trying to be as objective as one can be, i am no doubt affected by being heavily interested in politics and is on the left wing.
Now. To answer your question. When talking about immigration in denmark, the hot topic is not working immigration, but more like the immigration of especially muslim refugees. Or at least refugees from areas, where most people assume they are muslims, which is not always the case. An american who already has work suited up in Denmark, shoudn't have much problems. And obviously we are a part of EU, which means it's pretty easy to immigrate from other EU countries. While i believe Denmark, at least back in the days, had a reputation of being very open minded, and also having pretty open boarders, that has definetly changed into much more strict rules in a span of several years. The parties known for being very, ehm, protective of 'danish values' have been getting increased power over these years. Dansk Folkeparti (or The danish national parti) are now the second largest parti for the first time, which is largely because of a growing belief that immigration has been a huge probably for Denmark in years, for several reasons (some more legit than others). So no surprise, quite a few of the other parties are now much more strict in the immigration than they used to be. I will note though, that most of europe had a huge immigration of syrian refugees two years, where the EU countries mostly pointed to other countries with an attitude that "this is not mine (x country) problem. Somebody else take care of it". The lack of solution between the EU countries definetly sparked an even larger need for the politicians to make very strict rules. But obviously this is when talking about refugees. I don't believe it's becomming tougher to move to Denmark as a working immigrant, and there definetly seems to be a reasoning among politicians that we NEED to be able to be attractive for very skilled upper class (businessmen, scientists, etc...) working people. And furthermore, that there is a lot more positive narrative about people from america and western europa, than from anywhere else. I'm not sure how much the last part influence the legislations, but i can tell for sure that a lot of our politicians looove USA. It's no secret that Denmark considers USA a very important ally in a lot of ways.
That's about as neutral an assesment of the current situation, as i can deliver. I will, shortly, point out a few of my own point of views on the subject as well. First of, i will note, that the narrative that some of the politicians are creating are that 'muslim culture is very difficult to integrate in our society, and that we can not let out outshine our danish values". Again, it's worth noting that since a lot of the immigration to denmark is muslims, that makes it a huge part of the danish debate. The muslim population in Denmark still isn't very large, however, but people fail to see this. While the above is a big part of the open discussion, i also think that it is really not the reason as many people votes the way they do, as some people think. It is clear that a lot of the votes for strict immigration rules, are from parts of Denmark, where they don't really meet a lot of people who immigrates here permanently. Instead, they face the problem that Danish workers are usually working on contractual minimum terms negotiated by the working union. We get paid a good amount of money, compared to most other countries. That means that a lot of other EU citizens of the working class, are working here for periods at a lesser salary, while danes can make the choice of working on lesser terms that our unions have created for us over decades of building up the way they are influential in our 'working society'. Or not have a job. This choice are happening a lot more in the part of Denmark, where most of the votes for strict immigration rules are comming from. It should be noted, that this is also often a vote of being sceptical of EU. But not always - I'm casting a vote for a fairly sceptical opinion of EU, but for a lot lesser strict rules of allowing refugees to come. And a lot more focus on actually trying to help immigrants, fit into the danish society without having to give up their own cultural values. Anyways. Point is, that i believe there is currently actually a misdirection in the immigration legislation, because i think there is in large a misunderstanding of why a lot of people in the aforementioned areas votes the way, they do. Some of these votes are without a doubt, people who actually want lesser strict rules of immigration, BUT wants the immigrants to work at the same terms as the danish workers. Two very different issues, that are not specified openly enough in the public debate, and is hard to seperate for some people when casting their votes. At least if they don't have time to go deep into the political discussions. In this regard, it is also notable that the capital have a much more openminded politic, are generally very left wing-oriented, and the same goes to a lesser degree in the other few fairly big cities. Which also happens to be where you generally know a lot of people from several cultural backgrounds.