Friday, 18 January 2002

A majority of the Danish population finds the language in the current public debate about immigrants both provoking and inhumane. The adoption of a harder line against further immigration from the developing countries has been a key factor in the recent general election and has dominated the political agenda since. But apparently the population is increasingly turned off by the manner in which the debate is being conducted.

This is the finding of a new study conducted by Zapera in January 2002. The results come at a time when the Danish branch of Doctors Without Borders (Medecins sans Frontieres) have launched a media campaign to put a human face on immigration.

"It is a positive sign that the Danes have had enough," says Søren Brix Christensen, head of Doctors Without Borders in Denmark. "The reason we started our campaign was to turn the debate in a more humane direction. It is comforting to see that we are not the only people who are tired of the 'shrill factor' in the immigration debate."

Reducing immigration to Denmark was a key issue in the recent general elections and a large number of Danes still back a reduction in the number of immigrants from the developing countries. However, the study indicates that the population prefers the reduction to be carried out in accordance with international treaties such as the United Nations convention on refugees. Three quarters of the population insist that a reduction of the number of immigrants must not violate international accords that Denmark have signed.