COPENHAGEN: Outraged residents say they will resist a “racist” Danish law which allows large numbers of people to be evicted from social housing in areas where the authorities say there are too many immigrants.
Denmark passed a controversial law in 2018 to redevelop poor urban “ghettos” with high concentrations of immigrant populations by 2030. “Our apartments are not for sale!” said banners strung across Mjolnerparken, with locals saying that using their ethnicity to decide where they can live is discriminatory and illegal.
But for Jawad, whose parents were born in Pakistan, the so-called “ghetto law” is emblematic of Denmark’s relationship with immigrants.“A lot of people here have just given up hope of the government actually being on their side,” he said. Experts say some 11,000 people across Denmark will have to leave their apartments and find new housing elsewhere in the next seven years.
To avoid being moved around several times, many agreed to leave the neighbourhood, which is surrounded by some of Copenhagen’s most desirable areas.