Denmark’s Integration Experiment Reflects European U-turn

Many refugees from the 1992-95 war in former Yugoslav Bosnia had already settled in the neighbourhood, he said.

"I remember those white sheets, so clean and nice, coming from a refugee camp with dust and everything," said Avni, now 30, who spoke on condition his real name not be disclosed.

"It was basically a country where you could heal from the war and feel welcome."

Not anymore.

In the 20 years since Avni's stay, this prosperous, socially progressive Nordic country has actively made itself a far less appealing destination for refugees and immigrants, and instituted a package of laws designed to forcibly integrate those who are already settled.

By linking benefit payments to kindergarten and school attendance, doubling punishments for certain crimes committed in heavily immigrant neighbourhoods and selling off or demolishing social housing, Denmark has vowed to break up so-called 'ghettos' where residents are accused of shunning Danish language and values while reaping the benefits of the country's generous welfare state.

Though more radical than others, Denmark's hard line on immigration reflects a shift to the right across the continent.

"It has been going on for like 20 years," said Anders Asbjorn Host of Action Aid Denmark, which aids refugees. "But it was never as bad as it is now."

'It was shocking for me'

Claus Bjorton, KAB Housing Association. Photo: Dimitar Ganev

Avni's family spent a little over a year in Denmark, turning down the opportunity to stay permanently in favour of returning in mid-2000 to Kosovo, by then a United Nations protectorate setting out on the bumpy road to independence from Serbia.

Many from ex-Yugoslavia, however, opted to settle, benefitting...