Starting at the age of 1, \u201cghetto children\u201d must be separated from their families for at least 25 hours a week, not including nap time, for mandatory instruction in \u201cDanish values,\u201d including the traditions of Christmas and Easter, and Danish language. Noncompliance could result in a stoppage of welfare payments. Other Danish citizens are free to choose whether to enroll children in preschool up to the age of six.<\/p>\n
Denmark\u2019s government is introducing a new set of laws to regulate life in 25 low-income and heavily Muslim enclaves, saying that if families there do not willingly merge into the country\u2019s mainstream, they should be compelled.<\/p>\n
For decades, integrating immigrants has posed a thorny challenge to the Danish model, intended to serve a small, homogeneous population. Leaders are focusing their ire on urban neighborhoods where immigrants, some of them placed there by the government, live in dense concentrations with high rates of unemployment and gang violence.<\/p>\n
Politicians\u2019 description of the ghettos has become increasingly sinister. In his <\/span>annual New Year\u2019s speech,<\/a> <\/span>Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen warned that ghettos could \u201creach out their tentacles onto the streets\u201d by spreading violence, and that because of ghettos, \u201ccracks have appeared on the map of Denmark.\u201d Politicians who once used the word \u201cintegration\u201d now call frankly for \u201cassimilation.\u201d<\/p>\n That tough approach is embodied in the \u201cghetto package.\u201d Of 22 proposals presented by the government in early March, most have been agreed upon by a parliamentary majority, and more will be subject to a vote in the fall.<\/p>\n Some are punitive: One measure under consideration would allow courts to <\/span>double the punishment<\/a> <\/span>for certain crimes if they are committed in one of the 25 neighborhoods classified as ghettos, based on residents\u2019 income, employment status, education levels, number of criminal convictions and \u201cnon-Western background.\u201d Another would impose a four-year prison sentence on immigrant parents who force their children to make extended visits to their country of origin \u2014 described here as <\/span>\u201cre-education trips\u201d<\/a> <\/span>\u2014in that way damaging their \u201cschooling, language and well-being.\u201d Another would allow local authorities to increase their monitoring and surveillance of \u201cghetto\u201d families.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2018\/07\/02\/world\/24Denmark2\/merlin_140053179_463ab595-082e-43ed-bfd0-68c8ec8e3e19-articleLarge.jpg?resize=601%2C401&ssl=1\")
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