Every fifth non-western immigrant wants to return home

Survey also revealed that 17 percent had no, or very few, Danish friends.

Out of the roughly 472,000 non-Western immigrants and their descendants living in Denmark, about one fifth wish to return to their homelands one day.

According to a survey by Dansk Statistik – which queried some 2,000 immigrants from Turkey, Iraq, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Somalia living in Denmark – one fifth of the respondents answered ‘Yes, I would like to return to my original homeland’.

About 50 percent of respondents said they would not want to return home, while the rest were ambivalent.

READ MORE: Research: Hard to be accepted as a ‘real Dane’ if you have a foreign background

200 repatriated last year
The survey also revealed that 33 percent of the respondents spoke Danish in their homes, while 17 percent said that they had no, or very few, Danish friends.

Furthermore, 51 percent of those asked said they felt just as much Danish as their original nationality, while 25 percent said they felt most Danish.

Last year about 200 immigrants took advantage of Denmark’s repatriation option, which involves the state helping immigrants return to their homelands.

According to new research from Aarhus University, Danes have a hard time accepting those with foreign backgrounds as ‘real Danes’.

TOP STORIES

  • Diplomatic tensions between US and Denmark after spying rumors

    Diplomatic tensions between US and Denmark after spying rumors

    A Wall Street Journal article describes that the US will now begin spying in Greenland. This worries the Danish foreign minister, who wants an explanation from the US’s leading diplomat. Greenlandic politicians think that Trump’s actions increase the sense of insecurity

  • Diplomacy meets Westeros: a dinner with the King, Queen – and Jaime Lannister

    Diplomacy meets Westeros: a dinner with the King, Queen – and Jaime Lannister

    What do King Frederik X, Queen Mary, UN Secretary-General António Guterres, and Jaime Lannister have in common? No, this isn’t the start of a very specific Shakespeare-meets-HBO fanfiction — it was just Wednesday night in Denmark

  • Huge boost to halt dropouts from vocational education

    Huge boost to halt dropouts from vocational education

    For many years, most young people in Denmark have preferred upper secondary school (Gymnasium). Approximately 20 percent of a year group chooses a vocational education. Four out of 10 young people drop out of a vocational education. A bunch of millions aims to change that

  • Beloved culture house saved from closure

    Beloved culture house saved from closure

    At the beginning of April, it was reported that Kapelvej 44, a popular community house situated in Nørrebro, was at risk of closing due to a loss of municipality funding

  • Mette Frederiksen: “If you harm the country that is hosting you, you shouldn’t be here at all”

    Mette Frederiksen: “If you harm the country that is hosting you, you shouldn’t be here at all”

    With reforms to tighten the rules for foreigners in Denmark without legal residency, and the approval of a reception package for internationals working in the care sector, internationals have been under the spotlight this week. Mette Frederiksen spoke about both reforms yesterday.

  • Tolerated, but barely: inside Denmark’s departure centers

    Tolerated, but barely: inside Denmark’s departure centers

    Currently, around 170 people live on “tolerated stay” in Denmark, a status for people who cannot be deported but are denied residency and basic rights. As SOS Racisme draws a concerning picture of their living conditions in departure centers, such as Kærshovedgård, they also suggest it might be time for Denmark to reinvent its policies on deportation

Connect club

Connect Club is your gateway to a vibrant programme of events and an international community in Denmark.

Sign up here

Career

Want to advertise your job with CPH Post?

Contact us

Jobs