Monday, 29 April 2024 03:38

Denmark: A new plan to encourage immigrants' access to the labor market

Tuesday, 24 March 2015

The Danish government has unveiled a plan meant to promote access to employment for new immigrants and asylum seekers, far behind in the labor market.

Presented Wednesday by Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the program called "Everyone must contribute" is to allow some 30,000 immigrants and refugees to find employment and thus contribute, through the payment of taxes, to funding the Danish social model.

"The effort is urgent. We need to ensure that refugees and immigrants are closer to industry," said Ms. Shmidt during a press briefing.

The device is announced at the time where Copenhagen continues to tighten its immigration policy, under pressure of the right parties that claim immigrants abuse the generous Danish social security system.

And yet, all the statistics show low levels of social integration of newcomers to the Scandinavian countries, the Danish employers' organization deplores that three out of four immigrants, arrived in the early 2000s, remain unemployed ten years later.

Immigrants, even equipped with an advanced degree, are still struggling on the job market, confirms another report of the Centre for Social Research.

“The government led by a center-left coalition hopes this new plan will rectify an integration policy that was not good enough”, said the Danish Minister of Employment, Henrik Dam Kristensen.

Through strengthening programs already in place, such as training, internships, community service, coupled with learning Danish, new immigrants and refugees will now be required to find a job after three months of their arrival on Danish soil.

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