tbegeberg

“I like the idea of migration in general because I myself do not like to settle down in one place.  I like to be on the move and see new places,” the young Nicolai Thomsan, a student at Krogerup High school, said when asked about immigration.  “There are a lot of problems about immigration in Denmark, and most of them are caused by Danes,” Mr. Thomsan continued, but at the same time he made it clear that both immigrants and the Danes are responsible for the issue.  Immigration in Denmark is a heated topic that has pros and cons.  Those who support immigration mostly do that on the basis of a humanitarian responsibility to help those who are in need, but those who are against immigration in Denmark argue that immigrants cannot be integrated into the Danish society easily. Nevertheless, there are still so many puzzles about this issue and so many questions about whether there is hope and solutions for it. This article looks into the perspectives of some young students from Krogerup high school and tries to offer a new perspective, shared by the young people against the mainstream media, to help the Danish society be more open to immigration and for immigrants to be better integrated. First, we need to understand the problem.  One of the most sensitive issues in Europe in general and Denmark in particular in recent years has been the issue of immigration. Immigration in Denmark has been used by the political parties to influence people in times of elections. In the past, when Denmark opened the door to immigrants, many people from Palestine and other conflict-affected areas came here. However, these people were not well-integrated into the society. Mr. Thomsan explained, “We have a lot of second and third generation immigrants from ex-Yugoslavia and the Middle East.  Some of these guys have gotten into big trouble while joining gangs, and this of course has gotten a lot of mention in the media.  But, then the Danes make the problem even bigger because some of Danes come to say this is all Muslims that are bad people and they just come here to get our money, fuck our women, and kill everyone else and overtake our country, and I think this has ruined all the good parts that these people have come with, especially the food (laughing)!” That is why the immigration issue today in Denmark is also charged with history.  When Danes see that immigration did not work in the past, then they think it will not work in the future either. Katja Rottensten, a Danish young lady who is a 21-year-old studying in Krogerup, stated that, “Immigration is something positive, especially for cultural exchanges. However, I would rather my country not go to war. I think these people should come and stay in Denmark who are in need, but at the same time we should do something else.” Ms. Rottensten’s statement is the wish of many, but politicians have a different idea.  For many politicians, war is politics by other means.  War is actually one of the main causes of creating refugees and, ultimately, immigration.  However, to be realistic, wars will never end and so immigration, so what is the solution?  If immigration is inevitable, then how can the issue of immigration be solved in Denmark? Anna Osowo, also a student from Krogerup, spoke about her experience in London: “I think the solution for the issue of integration is to live together.  I used to live in London, and I just liked the way so many different people lived together peacefully.  And I hope we here in Denmark have a society like that.” A relevant and interesting discussion about immigration Perhaps London is a good example of integration, but why has Denmark not been able to have the same? Therefore, before jumping to the prescription, we have to diagnose the disease.  Anna Stawtz, a student from Krogerup who is interested in psychology, described the problem, “I don’t think immigration works the way it should in Denmark.  Most immigrants are separated from Danish people, and most of them live in ghettos and are not integrated with Danes. Also, most Danes have negative perspectives on immigrants, and that is really sad.” Nicolai Thomsan shared his views regarding this, “Yes, I would like more people to be allowed to come here to Denmark as long as they do not come here for getting money from the government and living in shitty apartments.  I think that is not the reason why you should come to Denmark.  But, if you come to Denmark to work, to get an education, and to help the society in Denmark, then I think everybody should be welcome.  Of course some of the kindest people I know are from the Middle East, so why not?” Both Ms. Stawtz and Mr. Thomsan speak about the reality on the ground.  But what is really the reality on the ground? On the one hand, the immigrants blame the Danish society and government for the immigration issue. They say that the Danish society is not open to outsiders and do not like people from outside to become citizens in their countries. Some even go further and blame the Danish society for racism.  On the other hand, the Danes blame the immigrants for the issue. They say the immigrants should have integrated more because according to them the immigrants have tried to keep their culture and values without getting to integrate with the Danish way of life. For now the reality looks dim and as if there is no hope, but is there any hope left that a new reality can be built?  Mr. Thomsan said it all: “Everyone is responsible for good integration.  Of course, the people who come here have to be ready to be integrated. If they don’t want that, then it is a tough way to help them. Of course they do not have to live like a Dane. I am personally

Given to her significant presence in the field of empowering young people in Africa, Aya Chebbi, the Tunisian founder of the African Youth Movement (AYM), has been invited to the UN annual Commission on the Status of Women in March 2015. The award-winning activist has started to blog on the Tunisian revolution in 2011 to aware the English-speaking world about the major developments in her country. Later on, Aya, who participated in many international trainings and events, has pursued her passion for engaging youth in democratization her community. Therefore, she launched the AYM to reunite African youth across the continent, especially North Africa, with the rest of the continent, beyond colonialism and post-colonialism. In this sense of taking the lead in her community after the attack on Bardo museum, Aya announced exclusively to “Crossing Borders” that with another non-violent activist on March 18th she had launched the first youth led movement for non-violence in Tunisia, CALAM. The story beyond the 26-year-old young lady who came from revolutionary Tunisia is worth to be told, so here are her answers to “Crossing Borders” questions: Starting from your last speech at the UN Women event to mark the 20th anniversary of the historic Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, how do you see this opportunity in terms of your continuous efforts in the youth-led civil society sector, generally in Africa and particularly in Tunisia? The UN Women has taken a great step, for CSW this year, in giving the space for a young voice to speak following Ban ki Moon, Hillary Clinton, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and other influential figures. When I received the invitation, I accepted because I believe we need to claim our space in such high profile gatherings where our voices need to be heard the most. It has been hard to deliver my message in 4 minutes, but I hope my talk will change the audience memory from the Arab Spring to the “Revolution of Dignity”, will give more recognition to our work as youth, our struggles and achievements as a generation of change. Your speech, which has been quoted at “12 things Australia can learn from the UN Women convention” article, stated that the boldness of your generation shaped your destiny and that of future generations. What are the milestone steps made by your generation compared to the older ones? Following our 2011 movements, things will not be the same! The old generations have taken independence from the Western colonizers; we have taken independence from post-colonizers and our own dictatorships. We have freed ourselves from repression and mental slavery and faced our fears with bravery. We are a bold generation because we do not give up! We are creative, innovative and tirelessly changing our realities. We leveraged technology and re-innovated non-violent resistance tactics online and offline. We have rewritten history for the next generation to grow up claiming their rights, dignity and freedoms instead of growing up on police repression and censorship. In this sense of the political turmoil in Tunis, are you satisfied with the Tunisian youth role in the political life? And why? Our current president is 88 years old; it’s very annoying after a youth led revolution, but that’s not why I am not satisfied! I will not be satisfied until we see young faces as the mainstream in political life, not the exception. When we have taken the streets following Ben Ali’s flee, we were calling for a Youth Assembly that will decide the future of the country, shortly the elders have taken over under the pretext of “experience and saving the country”. We decided to keep shaping Tunisia’s transition and we organized ourselves in lobbying groups, NGOs, media collectives etc…. Eventually, we ruled Tunisia and influenced its constitution and decisions not from the chairs of political parties but with civil society mobilization and people’s power. In the light of the criminal attack on Bardo museum, do you see it as a major setback in the revolutionary Tunis, in the sense of spreading the extreme movements? I like taking the example of the pendulum to explain the situation in Tunisia. We were holding the pendulum from one side with the dictatorship and when it has fallen, the pendulum swung to the extreme of the opposite side in one direction. But eventually it will be swinging back and forth in a slower motion until it will take its balance, so that’s normal. Terrorism in Tunisia is like mosquitos – when you don’t treat mosquitos in the spring, of course they will appear in masses in the summer. But then, once it’s summer, you cannot just easily fix it. This should be a wake up call for our government, that has not taken the preventive measures for terrorism for the past 4 years, which led to Bardo Attack. Now they want to fix it by increasing security. We need to fix the root causes from poverty, centralization of power and development to marginalization of youth and regional disparities. But anyway these crimes can never be a setback for the Tunisian people who occupied Bardo Museum few hours after the attack. We are not afraid and this makes us stronger to unite and strategize. Do you still consider yourself “proudly Tunisian” even though the jasmine revolution has a bloody fragrance lately? Again, we don’t call it “Jasmine Revolution”. This is a French name, not ours. I wrote a piece called “Not as Soft as a Jasmine” explaining, why this naming is offensive to our movement. The world has to stop these Western narratives and has to write in books and teach in schools a “Revolution of Dignity” if they have respect for people’s rights to define their fate and write their own history. Regarding your question, of course I am and will always be proudly Tunisian! Maybe this would be the first time to announce, that I, with another non-violent activist, on March 18th have launched the first youth led movement for non-violence in Tunisia, CALAM. Because