Denmark’s government said Monday that children living in a primarily Muslim immigrant community are required to attend classes on democracy, language, and Danish Christian traditions.
Danish parents living in ghettos — an official Danish term for non-western immigrant communities — must enroll their children into 25 hours of public education starting at age one, according to Reuters.
The ghettos for which this new policy is mandatory are composed mainly of Muslim migrants from Middle Eastern countries. The classes will focus on language skills, foundational education, as well as integral facets of Danish culture like democracy, equality and Christian holidays like Easter and Christmas. (RELATED: Danish Politician Slammed For Saying Fasting Muslims Pose Work Safety Threat)
Immigrant parents who do not enroll their children in the mandatory public education program will lose their child welfare benefits. Parents who have already placed their children in daycare programs are not required to enroll their children in these classes.
The new policy, on which major opposition parties agreed with the leading Liberal Party and the supporting nationalist Danish People’s Party, was put forward as part of a solution to the problem of integrating Muslim immigrants into Denmark’s western, democratic culture. The leading opposition party, The Social Democratic Party, has taken a harder stance toward Muslim migrants as the problem of migrant communities’ refusal to integrate has persisted in recent years.
Non-western immigrants comprise 66.5 percent of the population of ghetto areas and 8.7 percent of Denmark’s overall population of 5.7 million, according to EuroNews.
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