A new report by Ekstra Bladet tabloid based on figures from the World Bank and Oxfam shows that 80 percent of immigrants in Denmark send money back to their homelands.
The report showed that despite two thirds of all Somali, Lebanese and Iraqi immigrants of working age being on state support, they still manage to send almost 1.3 billion kroner back to their homelands every year.
Ninna Nyberg Sørensen, a researcher at the Danish Institute of International Studies, contended that the transfer of money abroad is vital.
“There are analyses that show that remitted money contributes to reducing poverty,” Sørensen told Ekstra Bladet.
"The majority of those who send money home know that the aid and opportunities to get money and other resources locally are so limited that they feel obliged to help with what they can – particularly if it’s for family members."
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"It's only natural"
Mohamed Gelle, the former head of the Somali interest group Somalisk Netværk, said that it had nothing to do with how much welfare the groups were receiving and that it was only natural to help out one’s family as best as possible.
“Even if they halved the welfare amounts for immigrants, they would still send home the money that they could afford to part with if their families are starving,” Gelle said.
“I think everyone would do that. It’s human and natural.”
According to the World Bank, the total amount of money transferred out of Denmark in 2012 was nine billion kroner.
