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Denmark’s initiatives for decentralising immigrant integration - an MPI report
Mariana Andrei - Communication Coordinator
24 September 2014
In Denmark the subject of immigrant integration has been highly politicized and has been decisive for the elections result. Denmark was among the first European countries to adopt a comprehensive law of integration, in 1998. It was also among the first countries that assigned the coordination of integration to one ministry, taking over competences from the various ministries and agencies previously responsible for integration in various fields.
The most recent change in Denmark’s integration policies was decentralisation and "mainstreaming" - including the services in the local policies addressed to the general population. The ministry in charge of coordinating refugees' and immigrants' integration was dissolved in 2011. However, mainstreaming is difficult at the level of national policies since integration policies are implemented in local municipalities. Studies showed that divergences sometimes occur between local and national policies. This situation was identified in larger cities in Denmark, where less restrictive policy responses have developed to support immigrant integration.
The report “Decentralising Immigrant Integration: Denmark’s Mainstreaming Initiatives in Employment, Education, and Social Affairs”, written by Martin Bak Jørgensen for Migration Policy Institute Europe (MPI) and published in 2014, analyses the development of migrant integration policies in Denmark over the last 15 years, focusing on decentralisation. It also explores differences between national and local policies in the case of municipalities that have developed less restrictive policies for immigrant integration. The report examines the strategies of cities of Copenhagen and Aarhus, which have deliberately undertaken a mainstreaming approach to immigrant integration.
The report is part of a comparative research project conducted in collaboration with the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) at the University of Oxford and Erasmus University in Rotterdam.
Source:
http://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/decentralising-immigrant-integration-denmarks-mainstreaming-initiatives-employment
The most recent change in Denmark’s integration policies was decentralisation and "mainstreaming" - including the services in the local policies addressed to the general population. The ministry in charge of coordinating refugees' and immigrants' integration was dissolved in 2011. However, mainstreaming is difficult at the level of national policies since integration policies are implemented in local municipalities. Studies showed that divergences sometimes occur between local and national policies. This situation was identified in larger cities in Denmark, where less restrictive policy responses have developed to support immigrant integration.
The report “Decentralising Immigrant Integration: Denmark’s Mainstreaming Initiatives in Employment, Education, and Social Affairs”, written by Martin Bak Jørgensen for Migration Policy Institute Europe (MPI) and published in 2014, analyses the development of migrant integration policies in Denmark over the last 15 years, focusing on decentralisation. It also explores differences between national and local policies in the case of municipalities that have developed less restrictive policies for immigrant integration. The report examines the strategies of cities of Copenhagen and Aarhus, which have deliberately undertaken a mainstreaming approach to immigrant integration.
The report is part of a comparative research project conducted in collaboration with the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) at the University of Oxford and Erasmus University in Rotterdam.
Source:
http://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/decentralising-immigrant-integration-denmarks-mainstreaming-initiatives-employment
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