Immigration, Integration, Administration – On Categories in Official Danish Statistics
V. E. Boolsen. July 2006
The “Cartoon crisis” appeared all of a sudden, and came as a great surprise to most of the rest of the world. Denmark has a reputation for being not only a small, but also a very peaceful country, with a great tolerance. Who does not remember what did the Danes during WWII, when a united Danish population saved most of its Jews and brought them to safety across the waters in neighbouring Sweden?[1] Who would have thought that the Danish counterpart to the Michael Howard “cricket test” would be a test in Danishness that amounted to finding out whether Muslims in Denmark could stand “spite, derision and ridicule” of the Prophet Mohammed, because they apparently took such matters seriously?[2]
Since 1973 – the year of the “Oil crisis” and soaring unemployment - there has been put a legal stop to immigration into Denmark. By then, there were less than 100.000 immigrants and foreigners residing in Denmark, and the population was roughly 4,2 million. Some of these had come as “guest workers” mostly from Turkey and (the former)Yugoslavia at the invitation of employers. They were mostly young, single men, who did unskilled jobs of all sorts. But Denmark unfortunately had also committed itself though international legislation to take in refugees – and that, together with family reunion, contributed to the recent figure: 8,4 per cent of the Danish population of currently 5,4 million consists of immigrants and their descendents. Roughly 425.000 out of a population of now 5,4 million.are Immigrants and their Descendents These are the official statistical figures.
Migration is not a political problem pertaining to Denmark only – in spite of the rhetoric of the Danish People’s Party, which supports the present Liberal-Conservative government and provides its majority in the Danish Parliament, Folketinget. It is an international issue, as is seen in the UN Report on International Migration, June 9, 2006, as basis for a conference on International Migration September 14 & 15, 2006. In this report there is the following recommendation:
“99. Policy responses would likely remain inadequate without sound
information on levels, trends, characteristics, impacts and other aspects of
international migration, including data by age, sex, origin, educational
attainment and occupation. The availability and quality of statistics on
international migration, return migration and remittances must continue to
improve.”
Further:
“100. National statistical offices and other government entities producing
international migration data based on administrative records should work
towards ensuring that the data refer to persons and not to the documents issued,
that double counting is avoided and that information on the characteristics of
migrants (especially on their origin, level of education, type of occupation and
sex) become part of a routine programme of data dissemination.”
From this, we can infer that “evidence” on migration is statistics on migration, and that national statistics can be generated in two ways: from administrative records and from National Statistics offices. In the following, I give examples of both. But it must be emphasized that the statistical categories presented in this paper are there for a reason; it testifies to policies of migration and the political problems pertaining to this. Thus the categories are not derived out of the blue; it is my thesis that such categories are ultimately politically determined, and testify to political problems and their administrative solutions. It is not only that you count, it is what you count.
How has Denmark taken the challenge of becoming a multicultural society? It has tackled it by issuing an Act on Integration, January 1999, with subsequent revisions. Moreover, it was the legal basis for a special Ministry of Integration. What is integration according to the Act? The following:
Ҥ 1: (Section 1): The purpose of this Act is though an achievement of integration to
1) contribute to newly arrived aliens be secured the possibility of participating – on an equal footing with other citizens – in Danish society’s political, economic, working, social, religious and cultural life,
2) contribute to newly arrived aliens’ becoming able to provide for their own livelihood,
3) equip each alien with an understanding of the basic values and norms of Danish society.”[3]
According to the Aliens Office, 2004, “The Integration Act has four categories of exemption from the Immigration stop, that is, four kinds of aliens who have a right or have legally obtained one of residing in Denmark for a longer period.
These four main groups are:
1) Nordic citizens,
2) Aliens with a need for international protection (asylum)
3) Aliens with close family relatives in Denmark (family reunion) and
4) Aliens who wish to work or study in Denmark or one of the EU-countries.”
This Integration Act is administered by local authorities, but the Aliens Office – Udlændingestyrelsen – allots quotas of immigrants for integration so as to secure an even distribution among the various boroughs. In principle, none gets by without a share of them. Last year, for instance, the Borough of Gentofte – the Hampstead of Copenhagen – had twenty-six coming. The problem is mostly housing; some boroughs have almost nowhere to put them up, because they have nothing like the equivalence of council housing.[4] The Aliens Office says that in the distributing of quotas concern is taken as to how easy it will be for immigrants to find employment suited to their qualifications. But here is a problem, according to the Ministry’s “Think Tank on Integration”, 2001, namely the following (p. 9):
“Unfortunately, experience so far shows that many immigrants from the so-called third-countries (that is, countries outside of the Nordic, the EU and North America ) – have not been able to become employed, and immigration for the time being comes precisely from such countries. It is too difficult to enter the Danish labour market if one comes as an immigrant with a very limited formal basic education, without any knowledge of the Danish language, and without any of the cultural or social competences that are valid on the Danish labour market.”
In short, what makes integration so difficult is mostly that it is the wrong kind of immigrants that enter. The Think Tank therefore outlined seven criteria of successful integration (p. 11):
“Knowledge of Danish and Education, Employment, Self-provision, Absence of Discrimination, Contact between Danes and Foreigners on a daily basis, Participation in Political life, Basic values and norms. – Among these latter belong a respect for democracy and the liberty rights of the citizens, to be law abiding, the acknowledgement of the equal right of every human being, and tolerance regarding others’ values and norms. “
So, tolerance is a Danish value- cf. the quotation by Flemming Rose above. Together with learning Danish as spoken by Danes, that is part of the Introduction course of three years now offered to immigrants.
There is only negligible discrimination in Denmark, according to the most recent official figures submitted in a report to the UN, June 2006, related to the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination:
“63. The Act on Prohibition of Discrimination on the Labour Market etc. has been amended by Act. No 253 of 7 April 2004 due to implementation of the EU directive 2000/43. Since 2000, there have been three Danish Court-cases. All three cases concerned questions of indirect discrimination of Muslim women insisting on wearing head cover on job. The first case concerned a practical trainee work in a department store. The employer rejected to employ the woman as a trainee. The High Court sentenced the employer a fine for infringement of the discrimination act. The second case concerned an employee at a chocolate factory wishing to wear a scarf instead of a hat as required according to company regulations. The employer was acquitted by the High Court. However, afterwards the employee and the employer jointly designed a head cover that met the safety requirements of the company as well as the religious needs of the employee. In the third case, the Supreme Court dealt with the same issue and found that the company regulations, which banned any kind of head cover and required a neutral appearance in a large supermarket-chain, were legitimate and did not constitute indirect discrimination on the grounds of religion. The Supreme Court thus acquitted the employer.”
On this background, nothing can feasibly account for the following figures:(Ministry of Integration, Yearbook 2005, p. 15):
“January 1, 2004, the frequency of occupation among immigrants and descendents from non-Western countries was 46 per cent, whereas it was 62 per cent among immigrants and descendents from Western countries. That of Danes was 76 per cent.”
Now, how can that be? Better ask the Minister at the time, Bertel Haarder, since he – in contrast to the Report by the ECRI of the European Council, February 2002 – states what is based on evidence and not anecdotal hearsay, which would consequently amount to little more than an essay with a bias. Bertel Haarder, as Minister of Integration, has the following, evidence-based explanation:
“Ordinary Danes are exposed to various kinds of social control. Among other things, we go to work, because we take into account what our family and our neighbours would say, and because we would like to be a good example to our children. But aliens do not have such inhibitions. They live in a sub-culture outside the Danish tribe. That is why they are very quick to learn about the possibility of receiving money without making an effort… Our welfare state has become handicapped by uncontrolled immigration, and I would like to testify that the systems in Denmark do not function when everybody have become entitled to welfare benefits, also those for whom they were not intended. “[5]
Since 2002, newly arrived immigrants are entitled to start allowance, which amounts to about half the amount of social benefit. There is no discrimination here – it pertains to all immigrants, regardless of citizenship, thus also those with Danish citizenship who return. This is allegedly done so as provide them with an incentive to find employment as soon as possible. Likewise, the local authorities are rewarded if immigrants find ordinary employment – not some scheme or with wage-substitute, etc. – or start on a formal education when still on the Introductory course. The incentive to the boroughs is DKR 33.00 for employment, and DKR 28.000 for education. Both of these remove immigrants from the unemployment statistics, and from benefit and allowance[6].
Fortunately, when it comes to statistics generated by the Aliens Office, there is now a trend showing that the number of applications for asylum and family reunion, including marriage, is steadily decreasing. It is now down to 3235 all in all[7]. The problems with new immigrants are therefore steadily diminishing, and Denmark takes its UN-quota of refugees: 500 a year, hence it complies with its international obligations. Immigration and integration can thus be administratively managed.
A Statistical Novelty: Immigrants and their Descendents
Since integration is so difficult for immigrants in Denmark – in spite of its tolerance – it is only fair that proper track are kept of them. And that has created a novelty among classifications in statistics, albeit not an original Danish one; the Norwegian Statistical Office has the same classifications. It subdivides into Danes, Immigrants and their Descendents. Not only do some immigrants have a higher fertility rate, hence more children, but they also are bi-lingual – their mother tongue is another than Danish – and live together in impoverished areas, where crime is high. Consequently, some of the immigrants become criminal offenders; and if they are not deported, then at least the verdict is that crime does not contribute to integration. I shall return to the criminal statistics in the following.
In Denmark, the Aliens Office keep records of foreign citizens in Denmark, who reside legally, that is, who have become registered as residents in Denmark. Everyone residing legally in Denmark is given a ten-digit number on a card, and are recorded in the Central Person Register, or CPR for short. The first six digits record date, month, and year of birth – the last four are unique to every person, telling them apart, with odd numbers for males and even numbers for females. The statistics generated by the Aliens Office obviously only record the number of legal immigrants, therefore of Foreign Citizens residing in Denmark.
From 1983, the demographic statistics has been issued by Statistics Denmark in a separate series with the title: Population and elections. But it is not until 1987 we find a new set of tables – six in all – as Publication no. 11, and with the heading: Foreign Citizens in Denmark by January 1, 1987 and Foreign Migrations 1986.
The reason for this novelty is the following:
“During the last years there has been an increasing interest for information on the number of foreign citizens with residence in Denmark. That is why some information on this issue has been assembled in this paper. They are distributed on citizenship, age, sex and geographical distribution. Since foreign migration is closely connected with the number of foreign citizens this paper also contains tables on migration among foreign citizens for the year 1986. There is also an overview on naturalisations during the period 1980-1986 and an account of foreign citizens 1980-1986.” (p. 3)[8]