 COPENHAGEN - Denmark plans to loosen its strict immigration regulations to open the door to qualified immigrants amid a labour shortage, the government said on Tuesday. Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen announced the proposal as one of a series of measures aimed at reforming the countryÂ’s welfare system, as the Scandinavian country experiences a shortage of workers and a rapidly ageing population.
| The alternative is for Danes to have more children, but in a post-modern, secular, post-Christian state, that doesn't seem to win any support. |
Rasmussen, whose government in 2001 introduced a slew of restrictive measures to curb immigration and so accept refugees only on humanitarian grounds, said it would be necessary to attract qualified labour in the years to come. “We propose an immigration policy where it would be easier to come to Denmark to work if you have the necessary qualifications, and it would be more difficult to come if you don’t,” he told reporters.
| Will this be applied to immigrants from Africa and the Middle East whose only qualification is having memorized the Qur'an? |
The government said it planned to introduce a system similar to the United StatesÂ’ Green Card, giving foreigners with the right qualifications the possibility to obtain a work permit and residency permit for a period of up to six months.
Rasmussen said immigrants in Denmark had a relatively low level of education compared to those in other countries, with only 20 percent having received a higher education. Some 5.0 percent of DenmarkÂ’s 5.4 million inhabitants are immigrants. A total of 3.1 percent come from non-Western countries, according to official statistics. Including those who have acquired Danish citizenship, the number of immigrants is 8.5 percent.
| That's not unreasonable, indeed it's not too dissimilar to our own country. The issue is whether the immigrants can truly become Danes, so that they and their children think and act like Danes. |
The measures introduced in 2001 included delaying refugeesÂ’ eligibility for permanent residence permits from three years to seven, restricting asylum conditions for conscientious objectors and persecuted homosexuals, and reducing welfare payments for new immigrants. |