Denmark: caps on "non-Westerners"?
Denmark is seeking to toughen its laws to prevent 'parallel societies' in 'particularly vulnerable neighbourhoods'. The proportion of residents of 'non-Western' background in each neighbourhood is to be limited to no more than 30 percent within the next 10 years, according to a draft presented by the government on Wednesday. Commentators see this as unworthy of a humanistic country.
Don't sort people by backgound
In Politiken's view, this approach crosses a line:
“This goes too far. It is not unnatural and not problematic per se to settle in areas where similar people live. In fact, that is the standard. That is why a humanistic country like Denmark cannot and must not make people's decisions about where to live contingent on their background or citizenship. This sorting process in housing policy which the government is now planning presumably violates numerous human rights conventions. And it certainly contradicts decency and an awareness of history.”
The demons will return
Cristian Unteanu criticises the draft law in his Adevărul blog:
“It is all too easy to imagine the destructive impact the Danish social democrats' draft law will have in the 'sensitive neighbourhoods' (I would rather not think about what would happen if it were put into practice). After all, it would have to be accompanied by regulations explaining which countries are 'non-Western' and how the forces of law and order are to organise the selection and banning of the 'excess non-Western population'. Once this process has begun, the demons that caused the horrors of the war will return to our world: intolerance, racist policies, extremist discourse, and racial hatred. If that is what we really want, then we can have it anytime, and fast.”