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| Denmark, a social welfare utopia, takes a nasty turn on refugees |
Denmark, a social welfare utopia, takes a nasty turn on refugees
Lise Ramslog was out for a barefoot ankle on the balmy day endure September that Europe’s refugee crisis came to her limited angel in southern Denmark.The 70-year-old grandmother had planned a simple airing to the bank. What she activate in her quiet, littoral association were hundreds of beat awning seekers who had accustomed on the bear from Germany alone to be abandoned afterwards admission to accessible transportation. Some had amorphous to airing forth the artery in desperation.
Ramslog absitively on the atom that she would help: She concluded up giving two adolescent couples, a babyish adolescent and a bairn babyish a 120-mile ride in her awkward auto to their destination in Sweden. “When we beyond the border, they animated and cried,” she recalled.
In addition context, Ramslog ability be accepted as a acceptable Samaritan.
But the Danish government has a altered appellation for her: bedevilled animal smuggler.
The accommodation by authorities to arraign Ramslog — and to allegation hundreds of added Danish citizens with a agnate abomination — is to abounding actuality just the latest affirmation of a association that, if faced with an unparalleled arrival of migrants and refugees, has taken a awful turn.
In that respect, Denmark has company: Beyond Europe, a once-tender embrace of those beat conflicts on the continent’s doorstep has acquired into an uncompromising rejection.
Last week, authorities in Greece began sending new arrivals aback beyond the sea to Turkey, as allotment of a action advised to assuredly abutting the aisle via which added than 1 actor humans approved altar endure year.
But as Europe walls itself off, the abstemious is larboard to account with what’s become of its once-cherished altruistic beliefs. And to abounding in Denmark, the abysm amid acceptability and absoluteness looks decidedly gaping.
“We’re accident account for the ethics aloft which we congenital our country and our European Union,” said Andreas Kamm, secretary accepted of the Danish Refugee Council. “It’s acceptable actual harder to avert animal rights.”
This Scandinavian nation of compulsively affable humans is acclaimed by U.S. presidential applicant Bernie Sanders as a social-welfare utopia, one that was afresh advised the world’s happiest place. Ranking top in the country’s pantheon of heroes are those who adequate Jews during the Holocaust or who helped the afflicted escape from abaft the Iron Curtain during the Cold War.
But if it has appear to those beat 21st-century conflicts on Europe’s doorstep, Denmark has gone into overdrive to advertisement its hostility. While Germany continues to acceptable awning seekers, and added European countries such as Sweden captivated their doors accessible for as continued as they could, Denmark has taken a harder band about from the beginning.
The government bargain refugees’ benefits, again advertised the cuts in Lebanese newspapers. It has enabled badge to accroach refugees’ valuables, including banknote and jewelry. And authorities accept fabricated it far added difficult for those already actuality to accumulate with their families, advancement the delay time from one year to three.
Now accustomed Danes are accepting bent up in the crackdown, punished for what abounding saw as a quintessentially acceptable deed. “I’m appreciative of what I did and will never affliction accepting done it,” said Ramslog, her gray hair accent by artificial blush affection barrettes and tears arising in her bright dejected eyes. “But I don’t wish to be accepted as a criminal.”
‘Huge pressure’
Yet that’s absolutely what she is, afterward a March conviction. And according to the far-right affair that holds the antithesis of ability in the Danish Parliament, it’s what she deserves, even admitting the badge ordered the state-run railway to activate alteration awning seekers alone canicule afterwards Ramslog opened her car aperture and arrive them in.
“These humans bankrupt the law,” said Peter Kofod Poulsen, a afresh adopted affiliate of Parliament from the anti-immigration Danish People’s Party. “Human smuggling is not all appropriate — not if it’s done by the alternation aggregation and not if it’s done by clandestine individuals.”
Poulsen, who at 26 is the Parliament’s third-youngest member, has helped advance the country’s anemic center-right government to yield a less-forgiving band on awning seekers aback the once-fringe DPP surged to additional abode in elections in June.
The amount of refugees taken in by Denmark, he said, should be “as abutting to aught as possible.” The alternative, in Poulsen’s view, is the end of aggregate Danes authority babyish — including low abomination ante and high-quality government services. Welcoming Syrians, Iraqis, Afghans and others beat war, he said, is just too burdensome.
“This country is falling apart,” said Poulsen, who is slim, albino and self-assured. “We acclimated to accept a safe, monocultural society. Now our abundance accompaniment is beneath huge pressure.”
The angle that Denmark can’t abundantly attending out for its own if it is aswell giving altar to awning seekers has activate advanced address here. Once-extreme anti-refugee positions are now accepted by a ample array of the country’s politicians.
The hardening of accessible attitudes has been underway for at atomic a decade. But a key axis point in accepted assessment may accept been that day endure September if awning seekers took to the highways to walk.
Many had been blocked a anniversary beforehand from abrogation Hungary, arch to a appendage in numbers on the casual trail.
When they accustomed in Denmark, on Sept. 7, they were initially barred from application accessible carriage unless they agreed to be registered — something few were accommodating to do because they capital to biking alee to added accessible destinations, abnormally Sweden.
When Danes angry on their televisions that day, they saw highways chock-full with humans in need.
“That was an account for abounding Danes,” said Kasper Moller Hansen, a University of Copenhagen political scientist. “They thought, ‘Wow, that’s a lot of people. We can’t advice all of them.’ ”
Instinctual response
Other Danes took a altered lesson, jumping in their cars and active to the babyish bear terminal in Rodby to action awning seekers a lift.
Lisbeth Zornig, a acclaimed child-rights activist and author, was in the breadth and absitively she couldn’t brainstorm active aback to Copenhagen with an abandoned car.
“I’d never apparent humans in charge that way in Denmark before,” she said. “They were hungry. They were thirsty. They didn’t accept annihilation but the clothes they were wearing.”
She opened her minivan’s doors to a babyish accumulation of Syrians, and four adults and accompanying 5-year-old girls hopped in. “Two account later, they were sleeping in the aback seat,” she said.
In Copenhagen, her husband, above announcer Mikael Lindholm, served them coffee and cookies, and offered to let them absorb the night. But they were acquisitive to get to Sweden, area afraid ancestors awaited. He collection them to the alternation station.
Both Zornig and Lindholm were bedevilled endure ages of animal smuggling — a abomination usually associated with acquisitive profiteers, not altruistic do-gooders. Each was ordered to pay a accomplished amounting to about $3,350.
Ramslog had her accomplished cut in bisected because she’s retired and lives on a babyish pension. It’s still far added than she can afford. Until now, her a lot of austere altercation with the law was a dispatch ticket.
She said she responded that September day from instinct, not from any plan. At most, she anticipation she would drive the refugees, who badly capital access to Sweden, a few afar up the road. “But again I kept thinking, ‘Oh, I’ll just go a little further,’ ” she recalled.
The babyish slept the accomplished way, apprenticed bound to her mother’s breast. The adolescent boy nibbled on biscuits and sipped angel juice.
Ramslog was still barefoot when, as night fell, she steered her car beyond the arch bond Denmark to Sweden. She had no buzz and almost abundant money to awning the toll.
“Thank you! Thank you!” her cartage exclaimed if she pulled over to bead them off.
Before they parted, Ramslog dug from her abridged a babyish agreeableness — a four-leaf clover encased in bottle that she had been accustomed to bethink her daughter, who died endure year.
She apprenticed it into the boy’s palm.
“May you accept bigger luck,” she said.
Karla Adam in London contributed to this report.
Spring could accompany a beginning billow of refugees. But Europe isn’t accessible for them.
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