Over the course of 10 days recently, José Francisco Cali Tzay travelled around Denmark to assess how Denmark is protecting the rights of its Greenlandic people – as part of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples from 2007.
According to the Guatemalan official, there is much that can be improved.
“My biggest concern is the structural racism that they encounter. Even though they are Danish citizens, they face a high degree of racial discrimination in all public services they require,” Tzay told P1 Morgen radio.
“The Danish government claims that the welfare state is equal opportunity, but in reality the Inuits endure significant administrative and institutional barriers, as well as racism and racial discrimination.”
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Greenlandic MP not surprised
Tzay pointed to Greenlanders being overrepresented in statistics relating to homelessness and forced removals and that tests used to evaluate parental suitability don’t take culture or language into consideration.
The findings don’t surprise Aki-Matilda Høegh-Dam, an MP in Parliament on behalf of Greenlandic party Siumut.
She constantly hears from Greenlanders who have encountered some form of injustice in the Danish system.
“It’s something I experience on a daily basis, from Inuits in Denmark and Greenland,” Dam told DR Nyheder.
Listen to the P1 Morgen radio episode pertaining to the issue here (in Danish).
