Danish Party Stirs Immigration Controversry

Peter Heinlein

Copenhagen

24 Aug 2001 12:49 UTC

A right-wing political party in Denmark has created an 1)uproar by publishing a list of nearly 5,000 2)immigrants who have recently 3)obtained Danish citizenship. Critics accuse the party of 4)exploiting ethnic and 5)racial divisions to pick up support in upcoming elections.

The controversy began Sunday after the Danish People's Party took out a full-page advertisement in Denmark's largest 6)circulation newspaper that listed the names of the country's newest citizens.

Party Spokesman Soeren Espersen says the ad was meant to show Danes that their country, until now one of the most 7)ethnically 8)homogeneous in Europe, is being 9)inundated by a flood of new immigrants. "We feel in our party that the amount number) of foreigners that achieve citizenship is much too high, and this is depicting towards Danish population why it is unreasonably too many people that 10)acquire citizenship every year," he says.

Mr. Espersen says in the past three years, 40,000 people have obtained Danish citizenship, rapidly changing the ethnic 11)makeup of this country of five and a half million people. He says the overwhelming majority of the 4,700 names on the list published Sunday are immigrants from the developing world. "Over 4,000 of the 4,700 would be mainly Muslims from the third world, Somalia, Turkey, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran," he says. "We feel that some of those persons have also got great difficulty 12)adjusting to Danish traditions and law, which we have unfortunately seen so many bad examples of recently."

Publication of the list has sparked 13)howls of protest from Denmark's minority community, as well as from human rights groups. Morton Kaerum, director of the Danish Center for Human Rights, calls publication the list unethical, and says it unfairly exploits those named in a negative 14)context. "What they achieve by publishing such a list is to create this "us and them" dichotomy in Danish society where every time a foreigner obtains Danish citizenship it is being perceived as a threat to Danish society," he says.

Mr. Kaerum says the right-wing party is simply whipping up ethnic hatred for political gain. "Their aim with this ad is to strengthen the platform of the party, which is hostile to ethnic minorities," he says. "So it is to send a signal to these persons who have obtained citizenship that we do not want you. It is a mistake that you obtained citizenship."

Mr. Kaerum says with local and parliamentary elections scheduled in the next six months, immigration is likely to be one of the main issues dividing Danes.

Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen has already made his position known, calling publication of the list "unacceptable". But the Danish People's Party hopes the issue will have enough 15)resonance with voters to push them above the seven-percent mark they achieved in the last election.

(1)      uproar[`QprR:(r)]n.喧嚣, 骚动

(2)      immigrant[5ImI^rEnt]adj.(从外国)移来的, 移民的n.移民, 侨民

(3)      obtain v.获得

(4)      exploit[Ik5splCIt]vt.开拓, 开发, 开采, 剥削v.使用

(5)      racial[5reIF(E)l]adj.人种的, 种族的, 种族间的

(6)      circulation[s:kjJ5leIF(E)n]n.循环, 流通, 发行额

(7)      ethnically adv.人种上, 民族上

(8)      homogeneous[hRmEJ5dVi:nIEs]adj.同类的, 相似的, 均一的, 均匀的

(9)      inundate[5InQndeIt]v.淹没

(10)      acquire[E5kwaIE(r)]vt.获得, 学到

(11)      makeup[ `meIkQp ]n.组成, 结构, 补考, 体格

(12)      adjust[E5dVQst]vt.调整, 调节, 校准, 使适合

(13)      howl[haJl]v.嚎叫, 怒吼,喝住, 号叫n.嚎叫, 怒号, 嚎哭

(14)      context[5kRntekst]n.上下文, 文章的前后关系

(15)      resonance[`rezLnEns]n.共鸣, 回声, 反响,共振