Politics1 min read

Why is Denmark separating ‘Western’ and ‘non-Western’ citizens?

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

The displaced families from Helsingor were evicted in 2022 under 2018 legislation that requires public family housing to be reduced to 40 percent by 2030 in affected estates. Areas are targeted if more than half of the residents are categorized as "non-Western" and the community meets indicators concerning crime, income, education, or unemployment. The Danish government maintains the mandatory redevelopments foster integration, while a relevant European Union court finding suggests such geographic categorizations can be tied to ethnic origin.

Key points

  • Targeted housing estates must cut public family housing to 40 percent through demolitions…: Targeted housing estates must cut public family housing to 40 percent through demolitions, sales, or conversions by 2030.
  • A European Union court ruling determined that seemingly neutral geographic metrics can st…: A European Union court ruling determined that seemingly neutral geographic metrics can still correlate to ethnic origin.
  • The Supreme Court legal challenge contests prior lower court rulings that held the non-We…: The Supreme Court legal challenge contests prior lower court rulings that held the non-Western classification was not illegally discriminatory.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Evicted families take Denmark’s controversial ‘ghetto law’ to the Supreme Court.

Seven families from Helsingor, a coastal city north of Copenhagen, are facing their former landlord in Denmark’s Supreme Court.

In a two-day hearing that began on Friday, they are arguing they were forced from their homes because of where they, or their parents, come from.

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Their leases were terminated in 2022 under a 2018 law, once known as the “ghetto law”, which targets social housing estates where more than half of residents are classed as “non-Western”. The government claims the law is aimed at integration. But rights groups have for years fought against the measures, saying they are discriminatory.

“It’s about whether the criteria regarding the…

Politics