DENMARK: Not everyone is happy with Danish immigration policy, writes Brendan Killeen in Copenhagen
Eric Lemcke is only half joking when he sketches out his new proposal for all air tickets purchased in Denmark. "They should have big warnings on them like we have on cigarette packets. They would spell out that it is dangerous for Danes to have contact with foreigners. Look at me, I went to New York to practise tango and I fell in love. That got me into all sorts of trouble," he laughs.
In New York in 2002, Eric met Jonelle, an African-American woman several years his junior. "I was 60 years old and believed that I could marry whomever I wanted. I was wrong. I had heard about the new laws on marriage in Denmark but like most Danes I had paid very little attention to them. They were something that would affect immigrants and that was that."
Eric fell foul of laws brought in by the centre- right Danish government in July 2002. Part of an election promise to reduce immigration, prevent arranged marriages and stem the flow of "family reunifications" between resident immigrants in Denmark and their wider families abroad, the laws also affects Danish citizens.
Danes under the age of 24 cannot marry people from outside the EU and live with their partner in Denmark. People who are over 24 must meet strict conditions to be allowed to live in Denmark with their spouse. They must own a residence with at least two rooms; provide a security of 53,000 kroner (€7,122), and the Danish partner must provide their last three pay slips, the value of which must amount to at least 9,000 kroner (€1,200) in total. The self-employed must provide accounts for the past three years.
The most controversial aspect of the law is a clause that relates to "belonging to", under which the couple must prove that their cumulative attachment to Denmark is greater than their ties to another country.
Eric fell foul of the stipulation on income. A freelance organisational consultant to some of the biggest companies in Denmark, he has been in the labour market for 42 years. However, two bad business years before 2002 resulted in the authorities refusing Jonelle full residency.
The couple married and live in Copenhagen, having paid the surety. Every two years for the next seven years, Jonelle must present herself at the city hall, fill out a 22-page form and sit an interview in Danish. "Of course the laws are especially cruel on the minorities," Eric says. "At least I know how the system works and can speak the language well. Imagine an immigrant having to fill all those pages out knowing that an error could ruin their chances of staying here with their loved ones."
Eric is now an active member of a pressure group called Ægteskab Uden Grænser or Marriage Without Borders which is committed to killing off these laws.
The organisation has several thousand members and receives 20 to 30 inquiries a month from Danes and immigrants affected by the laws.
Affiliate groups exist in Germany and Sweden, where many Danes have moved to avoid the law. After two years here, under EU law, they are free to live anywhere in the European Union and so can move back to Denmark. Indeed the Swedish city of Malmö, connected to Copenhagen by bridge, has several thousand new Danish citizens as a result of the marriage laws.
Denmark goes to the polls in a general election tomorrow. Immigration and its impact on Danish culture is one of the dominant topics. The outgoing centre-right government of Venstre and the Conservative Party brought in these strict rules spurred on by the far-right Danish Peoples Party (DPP), on whom the government depended for its parliamentary majority. Fighting the last election on a mandate of nationalism and a promise to keep Denmark Danish, the DPP won 12 per cent of the vote and 22 seats - the third-highest in the parliament.
All three parties involved in this parliamentary majority support strong immigration laws but, crucially in the minds of the electorate, they are also pushing for a more competitive Denmark with less bureaucracy and lower taxes. They have delivered on many of their promises - numbers applying for residency and asylum to Denmark have dropped significantly.
But not everyone is happy. Kamal Qureshi, a doctor and member of parliament for central Copenhagen, says: "If the Germans brought [ such] laws in, the whole world would have reacted, but for some reason they are acceptable here."
Born in Pakistan but brought up in Denmark, Kamal believes that tomorrow's election will be a turning point for Denmark. "Another strong vote for any of the parties in the last coalition will be a sad day for Danish democracy," he says.
"You know, democracy is also about nurturing and protecting minorities and the Muslim population, in particular, is not being protected. The DPP is not the only problem - the major parties across the board are trying to catch votes based on the anti-immigration mood in this country."
Kenneth Kristiansen agrees that immigration is a major topic in the current election campaign. A DPP member of parliament and chairman of the party's youth organisation, he was charged under the so-called "racism paragraph" of the Danish criminal code for an "anti-Islamic" speech made at the party congress in 2001. In 2003, however, he and two other senior members of the party were acquitted.
"Of course, the problem isn't immigration, it is Islam," he says. "Muslims who live here are more likely to be unemployed and involved in crime than Danes or immigrants from Europe or somewhere like Vietnam. Muslims do not adapt and I am not going to stand around and watch as sharia law is brought in here."
Peter (not his real name), a 59-year-old Dane, lived in Africa for 25 years where he worked as an engineer. Sixteen years ago, he married an African woman and they have one son. The country they lived in is spiralling into chaos and is not safe for Europeans. Peter took his family back to Denmark but fell foul of the new laws.
While he and his son live in Denmark, his wife was refused residency and must travel back and forth on holiday visas. Their case is due to come up for review again and Peter does not want to prejudice their chances by using his real name.
"They say I can't use my savings and that I have to have a full-time job," he says.
"People are reluctant to employ someone my age. Ordinary Danes are not aware of the impact of these laws and I am afraid that very little will change."