In Denmark’s Plan To Rid Country Of ‘Ghettos,’ Some Immigrants Hear ‘Go Home’
FULL STORY AT NPR.ORG
In a move aimed at ensuring an integrated Denmark without “parallel societies” and to protect “Danishness,” the Danish government recently released a plan to rid the country in the next 12 years of areas it officially calls “ghettos.”
In Denmark, the word “ghetto” is a legal designation typically applied to a neighborhood with more than 1,000 residents, meeting at least two of the following three criteria (though additional criteria are sometimes also applied):
- At least 50 percent of residents are immigrants from non-Western countries.
- At least 40 percent of residents are unemployed.
- At least 2.7 percent of residents have criminal convictions.
Political leaders refer to these areas as “holes in Denmark’s map,” where Danish language and values are lost to generation after generation of residents.