for many years decades even the wealthy
Nordic social democracies was seen as
the perfect Haven for immigration
regardless of origin race religion or
any other condition most of these
countries were built due to the arrival
of hundreds of thousands of foreigners
even so for some time now this Open Door
attitude has begun to change migration
policy has even been decisive in driving
changes in government for instance two
of the four Continental Nordic countries
are no longer in the hands of Social
Democratic parties conservative
governments have made inroads in Sweden
and Finland while in Denmark the
government is formed by a large
Coalition of social Democrats and
conservative liberals this latter case
may seem an odd mix but we're talking
about a country that has been
particularly tough on illegal
immigration and very restrictive in
terms of refugee policies for years now
no matter who actually governs look at
this m Frederickson the face of the
anti-immigration left in Denmark advoca
a zero Refugee policy her government has
pursued a controversial project to
relocate Asylum Seekers to Randa while
their applications are processed the
country has also revoked residence
permits for syrians hailing from regions
it considers safe and of course at this
point many of you may be wondering why
is it that the Nordic countries which
have traditionally been so open and so
tolerant of the arrival of migrants are
now radically changing their tune more
importantly what kind of policies are
they putting in place and why are we
talking about them on visual politics
could this be a taste of what is to come
in the next few years well these
questions and more will be answered
coming up step on the gas and let's get
[Applause]
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started the first question I think we
have to answer is why why are the Nordic
Nations becoming more and more reluctant
on the immigration issue what on Earth
has happened to bring about such a
change well the truth is that the answer
is complex and there are many variables
involved for example the insufficient
capacity to integrate so many people
from so many different cultures may be
causing as we shall soon see some
security issues but by far the greatest
influence on this Paradigm Shift has had
to do with the welfare state undoubtedly
the backbone of the social cohesion
model in these countries it is no secret
that in Sweden Finland Norway Denmark
and Iceland the state plays a central
role in protecting people it is by far
the best known feature of the Nordic
countries basically if you are born in
one of these countries you will almost
certainly have no problem accessing
healthare a home a pension and subsidies
of any kind especially when it comes to
promoting increasing birth rates this
chart makes it very
clear to give you an idea the five
Nordic countries are in the top 10
countries with the highest spending on
education and health care as a
percentage of GDP and right up there on
the podium we find two of them Iceland
and Denmark naturally these elephanttine
welfare states have to be financed in
some way for instance through taxes the
Nordic countries have a tax burden of
more than 40% and obviously the fact
that they are historically Rich Advanced
and very competitive economies also
helps them to have first class public
services this means that in these
countries a high percentage of workers
are highly qualified professionals with
high salaries this makes it easier for
the state to collect a lot of money and
maintain very high social benefits
without EX ively limiting the purchasing
power of its workers and the
competitiveness of its companies so what
is the problem well the problem is that
a very large number of the immigrants
that these countries have received in
recent years are people without good
educational or professional training and
that greatly limits their fiscal
contribution while at the same time they
tend to consume more public
resources the lack of qualifications
also leads to serious problems in
accessing the labor market to despite
the fact that we are talking about
countries with very low levels of
unemployment and that's not all since
social benefits in these countries tends
to be very generous they sometimes have
a pull effect let's just say that it
could become more profitable to receive
subsidies than to have a low-skilled job
the issue is that in the long run this
leads to integration problems a much
more widespread underground economy and
also to the emergence of criminal groups
we already talked about the latter in a
past video about Sweden which if you are
watching this video I think you will
also be very interested in it I'll leave
the link in the
[Applause]
description the point is that for all
these reasons the large increase in
Immigration that has taken place in
Europe in recent years has had a much
greater impact on the welfarist Nordic
States than on other European countries
think about it for a moment the
incentive for people to go to countries
with so many subsidies is enormous which
logically has also led to a significant
increase in Social spending in these
countries then on top of that if we add
the increase of refugees registered
since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine
the cocktail becomes even more bitter
visual politic Community all that we are
telling you has had two very clear
effects on the one hand the nordics are
seeing how their public services and
welfare state are degrading basically
because there are more and more
claimants claimants who in most cases
have contributed nothing or very little
to the system this generates an
important structural Gap in the short
and medium term and on the other hand we
have the economic and financial effect
as some countries have had to choose
either to cut benefits or to increase
taxes Norway to hike taxes by $3 billion
on power firms Fish Farms costs linked
to taking in refugees ongoing public
construction projects benefit payments
and household power subsidies Will Rise
by some 100 billion crowns in 2023 the
government has said we're talking about
a scenario that is starting to cause a
lot of
unrest
and precisely to curb this drift the old
and well-known Nordic social democracies
are tightening the requirements for
access to public benefits while also
doing away with their open door policy
and their traditionally tolerant stance
on immigration finland's new government
announces paradigm shift with
immigration Crackdown residents permits
granted under International protection
will become temporary and their duration
will be reduced to the EU minimum they
will in future be withdrawn if a person
is on holiday in their country of origin
it also aims to establish separate
social security benefit systems for
immigrants and permanent residents now
if all this is not enough for you give
us a moment because we have only just
begun Nordic states to tighten
collaboration on migrant deportations
one common goal was ensuring the
deportation of foreigners without
residence permits to their countries of
origin on the 31st of October 2023 the
five Nordic countries signed three
initiatives that represent a further
step in this complete Paradigm Shift we
are talking about a new strategy to
promote the voluntary departure of
immigrants and refugees as well as the
expulsion of illegal
immigrants nevertheless even taking this
change into account the truth is that
one country in particular is being the
toughest by far in trying to tackle the
problems that have been caused in recent
decades a country where the Iron Fist is
a general consensus among all political
forces we are talking about Denmark what
we are going to tell you may surprise
many of you and above all it may change
your opinion or the image that you have
of the land of Lego and licorice just
three decades ago Denmark was one of the
most open to immigration and refugees in
all of Europe and perhaps the world it
was also one of the countries that put
the most Aid on the table yet not even a
shadow of that Denmark remains today so
naturally the question is what exactly
are we talking about when we say that
Denmark is using an iron fist is it
perhaps the advanced pupil that is
leading the way for a new policy
throughout Europe well Let's Take a
[Music]
Look by hook or by
crook as we have already told you
Denmark is by far the Nordic country
that has taken the most radical approach
against illegal immigration the toughest
country in the Nordic region and perhaps
in the whole of Europe let us point out
that this is not something strictly new
it is not a decision that was taken just
the day before yesterday and to
illustrate that we have the agreements
that Denmark signed and more importantly
those that it did not sign within the
framework of the European Union you see
after the Danes rejected the Mast treaty
in the first referendum which is one of
the founding treaties of the European
Union the EU authorities agreed with
Copenhagen on four opt out Clauses of
these two are still valid and applicable
today take note first of all the Danes
would not adopt the Euro and would keep
the Danish Crone which is obviously not
relevant to the subject we're talking
about out the second however is much
more significant Denmark is also exempt
from complying with most of the European
laws and obligations concerning among
other things Asylum and the distribution
of refugees and irregular immigrants
this was something that was agreed in
1997 with the amster dam treaty and
since then the truth is that the Danes
have pretty much done as they please
with their migration policy now what is
the greatest indicator of all this none
other than its zero Refugee policy Yes
you heard
correctly
until the war in Ukraine Denmark
accepted hardly any refugees and those
it did accept such as some syrians
fleeing the war are now beginning to be
invited to leave it has even expelled
several hundred of them considering that
their regions of origin are already safe
zones to give you an idea in per capita
terms for every Refugee arriving in
Denmark six arrive in Germany and Sweden
in 2021 before the war in Ukraine there
were only 36,000 refugees in the country
and in 2020 the country recorded the
lowest number of Asylum applications in
20 years just over 1,500 evidently this
responds to something and that something
is a very hostile policy towards this
type of migration for starters in 2016
the Danish government passed a law
popularly known as the jewelry law this
is a controversial law that was passed
by a large majority in Parliament 81 out
of 109 of the deputies present including
those from the Social Democratic party
which was already at that time led by
the current prime minister meta
Frederickson now what does this law
consist of well hold on to your
chair in short the so-called jewelry law
obliges new arrived Asylum Seekers to
hand over their valuables to the Danish
State as a way to pay for their stay
including jewelry and gold with the
exception of limited pieces that may
have a particular sentimental value the
law also states that refugees arriving
in the country with more than 10,000
Crona that's just under $1,500 have to
contribute to the costs of their
accommodation what's more the law also
makes family reunions very difficult
Asylum Seekers have to wait at least 3
years before they can apply to bring
their families to Denmark all this is
obviously aimed at discouraging refugees
from choosing Denmark as an option as
there are many other options in Europe
with more welcoming conditions and the
truth is that in this sense the law with
the figures in hand is working for many
this law is inhumane and racist
especially considering that the Danish
government surprise surprise did not
apply any of the conditions to Ukrainian
refugees who came fleeing the war in
their country for others however it is a
key tool for preventing the formation of
ghettos and parallel societies which is
the fundamental motive with which
politicians on both the left and the
right justify it but there is still more
much
[Music]
more when an immigrant or Refugee is
ordered to leave the country and does
not cooperate with the authorities he or
she is placed in a return center in
Denmark where he or she is obliged to
reside and spend the night every night I
guess calling them expulsion centers had
a less pleasing ring to it well the
country has at least three return
centers for foreigners in which in some
cases there are foreigners who spend
long periods of time it is a wait with
an uncertain destination and remember we
are not talking about temporary
detention centers for newly arrived
illegal immigrants as we can find in
many countries we are talking about
foreigners who were already in Denmark
but who for whatever reason have been
ordered to be expelled on top of that
these centers are subject to a regime of
conduct discipline and very strict rules
there is also a system of penalties for
non-compliance including fines and even
imprisonment however if there is one
measure that is controversial and
radical among all the ones we have told
you and have yet to tell you about it is
the one Denmark has taken against the
ghettos of foreigners or as they like to
call them parallel societies you see as
we explained in the video we made about
Sweden one of the problems that hinders
the integration of many immigrants is
their concentration in areas where they
have little contact with the local
Society we're talking about areas
neighborhoods usually full of public
housing that were given to these
immigrants because they were considered
vulnerable groups areas in which closed
communities end up being created with
their own culture customary and
sometimes even de facto laws we're
talking about areas where in many cases
contact with neighbors in the local
population of the host countries is zero
we are also talking about places where a
large proportion of the foreign resident
population does not have regular jobs or
ends up engaging in criminal activities
and of course exclusion leads to more
exclusion and that never turns out well
in this sense these areas are the ones
that have served as breeding grounds for
organized crime in countries such as
Sweden where they are experiencing an
unprecedented security problem that is
overwhelming the authorities
themselves
[Music]
well Denmark is the country in Europe
and perhaps even in the world that is
declared war most harshly on these
ghettoised areas on these parallel
societies for example in 2018 Denmark
passed a controversial law whose major
initiative is to reorganize and redesign
poor public housing neighborhoods that
have a high concentration of nonwestern
immigrants with a deadline 2030 it is a
plan that was announced by a
conservative government but one that has
been implemented by frederickson's
social democratic government now what
does this reorganization consist of
basically it consists of entering these
neighborhoods to take over the houses in
some cases even entering with bulldozers
to demolish public housing yes yes
that's what I said previously the Danish
government carried out the forced
relocation of its neighbors who in some
cases as you can probably imagine were
reluctant to leave their homes Denmark
aims a wrecking ball at non-western
neighborhoods a government govern
program is using Demolition and
relocation to remake neighborhoods with
immigrants poverty or crime specifically
the law requires that in neighborhoods
where at least half of the population is
of non-western origin or ancestry the
proportion of public housing may not
exceed 40% of the
[Music]
total in order to declare an area as
susceptible to action the law indicates
that at least two of the following
characteristics must be present low
income poor educational performance high
unemployment or high percentage of
inhabitants with criminal convictions
one of the places that serves as an
example of a ghetto is the Mur NE parkan
neighborhood where 43% of its residents
are unemployed 82% are of nonwestern
origin 53% are poorly educated and 51%
have low incomes in practice this means
that by 2030 the Danish government will
have to demolish or alternatively empty
and resell to others more than 4,000
public housing units in such
neighborhoods as of today about 500 have
been already demolished many of those
that are not demolished and where it has
been decided to keep them are sold to
investors who renovate them and then
sell them at market price to new
inhabitants with higher purchasing power
in practice the idea is to relocate and
dilute The Immigrant population within
Danish Society preventing foreigners
from concentrating in specific areas
from isolating themselves from the rest
of society and thus failing to integrate
conceptually the idea is not bad what is
more controversial is the forced and
compulsory approach that has been taken
in Denmark we take the basic view that
concentrating social problems increases
social problems we do not believe it's
advantages to grow up in a neighborhood
where there are many social and
integration related problems I imagine
there will be opinions across the board
[Music]
here but we're not done yet there's
still more apart from this housing and
rehousing policy Denmark also decrees
that young children in these areas spend
at least 25 hours a week in preschools
where they are taught the Danish
language and I quote Danish values and
while it is still too early to tell
whether these measures will succeed or
fail what we do know is that Denmark is
becoming something of a laboratory for
many European countries with similar
problems of course one of the risks that
exists and it is not exactly a minor
risk is that the policy of forced
relocations and a heavy hand against
refugees and illegal immigration will
increase the feeling of unsettledness
when a person feels very rootless
singled out and stigmatized by the
society around them they can in some
cases develop anger and hatred that can
lead to higher levels of radicalization
and unlawful behaviors obviously this is
something that the Danish authorities
are aware of and will have to keep an
eye on it is potentially a very
significant risk that needs to be taken
into account the thing is visual politic
community that in Denmark today the
concept of multiculturalism generates a
significant social rejection
in Denmark multiculturalism is really a
negative word in other words that in the
land of The Little Mermaid being an
Uninvited Outsider could Lead You
headlong into having to navigate more
troubled waters and take note because
what we have told you about the Nordic
anti-immigration country par excellance
is nothing short of what could be about
to start happening in others such as
Sweden or Finland whose governments have
recently turned to the right the
question at this point is will all these
plans work for now we'll leave the
debate to all of you so you can leave
your opinion Below in the comments and
more importantly if you like this video
don't forget to like And subscribe to
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you the link in the description so you
can check it all out once again thank
you so much for watching all the best
see you next
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time