By
Matilda Coleman
-
March 7, 2020
LONDON – The mayor of a city in eastern Denmark was preparing to hold a citizenship ceremony when he received a call from the country's immigration and integration ministry.
Friday's ceremony had to be postponed, the ministry told Henrik Hvidesten, the mayor of Ringsted, a city of 35,000 inhabitants. This is because naturalization ceremonies require a handshake by law to complete the process, and health authorities recommended that people avoid shaking hands to help contain the spread of the new coronavirus.
The new coronavirus, which has caused more than 200 deaths in Europe and infected thousands across the continent, has forced governments to close schools, cancel sports events, issue travel restrictions and ask countless people to isolate themselves if they suspect They are infected. . In Denmark, which has reported 23 cases, it now means that hundreds of people about to become Danish citizens will have to wait until shaking hands is considered safe again.
Fourteen people were expected to become Danish citizens in Ringsted, Hvidesten said in an interview on Saturday. “Some were not happy, and we are very sorry. It was a day they had been waiting for. ”
The handshake requirement, which was adopted by Danish conservative lawmakers and those of the populist Danish popular party in 2018, was widely criticized by opponents as a measure against immigration aimed at those who could refuse to touch members of the opposite sex. due to religious beliefs, especially Muslims
Denmark is not the only European country that has that rule. In 2018, a French court ruled that a refusal to shake hands with male officials in a naturalization ceremony was reason enough to deny citizenship to a woman from Algeria.
On Friday, as the number of virus cases increased across Europe, public officials in Denmark debated whether handshake exceptions could be made until the country addressed the epidemic. The 2018 law that requires handshaking in naturalization ceremonies includes a provision that prohibits gloves, so it is not an option.
But government officials said there would be no exception to the handshake for those who want to become citizens. It was not clear how long the suspension would last or if all local mayors would follow the recommendation.
"Of course, this is a sad situation for those who now have to wait to become Danish citizens," said Mattias Tesfaye, the country's immigration and integration minister, in a statement. "But we take the recommendations of health authorities seriously. In this situation, we as a society must show unity to limit the spread of infection."
Local officials in Denmark hold at least two naturalization ceremonies each year, the conclusion of a long process for thousands of people in which the requirements include having residency for up to nine years, passing exams of Danish language, politics, history and society, and be financially self-sufficient.
Some mayors have eluded the handshake law by having male and female officials participate in the ceremonies. "It is against my ideology and conviction to have to force other people to have body contact," Thomas Andresen, mayor of Aabenraa, a city near the German border, told The New York Times.
For many, the recommendation to postpone last week was the last incongruity in a law they considered exclusive.
"It's absurd," said Peder Hvelplund, a socialist and green legislator, in an interview. "The road to Danish citizenship should be inclusion, not exclusion."
The delay could deprive some of their citizenship, Hvelplund added, because children under 18 who could have become Danish through the naturalization of their parents would probably have to start over if they got older.
"Some will probably have to undergo the process themselves," he said.
Mayor Hvidesten of Ringsted said he was taken by surprise when he received a call from the ministry, two hours before Friday's ceremony.
“We should have made some kind of exceptions; we could have done it without the handshake, ”he said.
Other Danes responded to the new rule by offering their own alternatives.
Sofie Carsten Nielsen, leader of the Danish Liberal Social Party, suggested on Twitter that people replaced the handshake with Namaste's gesture, pressing their hands together.
https://upnewsinfo.com/2020/03/07/n...the-coronavirus-stops-danish-naturalizations/
Matilda Coleman
-
March 7, 2020
LONDON – The mayor of a city in eastern Denmark was preparing to hold a citizenship ceremony when he received a call from the country's immigration and integration ministry.
Friday's ceremony had to be postponed, the ministry told Henrik Hvidesten, the mayor of Ringsted, a city of 35,000 inhabitants. This is because naturalization ceremonies require a handshake by law to complete the process, and health authorities recommended that people avoid shaking hands to help contain the spread of the new coronavirus.
The new coronavirus, which has caused more than 200 deaths in Europe and infected thousands across the continent, has forced governments to close schools, cancel sports events, issue travel restrictions and ask countless people to isolate themselves if they suspect They are infected. . In Denmark, which has reported 23 cases, it now means that hundreds of people about to become Danish citizens will have to wait until shaking hands is considered safe again.
Fourteen people were expected to become Danish citizens in Ringsted, Hvidesten said in an interview on Saturday. “Some were not happy, and we are very sorry. It was a day they had been waiting for. ”
The handshake requirement, which was adopted by Danish conservative lawmakers and those of the populist Danish popular party in 2018, was widely criticized by opponents as a measure against immigration aimed at those who could refuse to touch members of the opposite sex. due to religious beliefs, especially Muslims
Denmark is not the only European country that has that rule. In 2018, a French court ruled that a refusal to shake hands with male officials in a naturalization ceremony was reason enough to deny citizenship to a woman from Algeria.
On Friday, as the number of virus cases increased across Europe, public officials in Denmark debated whether handshake exceptions could be made until the country addressed the epidemic. The 2018 law that requires handshaking in naturalization ceremonies includes a provision that prohibits gloves, so it is not an option.
But government officials said there would be no exception to the handshake for those who want to become citizens. It was not clear how long the suspension would last or if all local mayors would follow the recommendation.
"Of course, this is a sad situation for those who now have to wait to become Danish citizens," said Mattias Tesfaye, the country's immigration and integration minister, in a statement. "But we take the recommendations of health authorities seriously. In this situation, we as a society must show unity to limit the spread of infection."
Local officials in Denmark hold at least two naturalization ceremonies each year, the conclusion of a long process for thousands of people in which the requirements include having residency for up to nine years, passing exams of Danish language, politics, history and society, and be financially self-sufficient.
Some mayors have eluded the handshake law by having male and female officials participate in the ceremonies. "It is against my ideology and conviction to have to force other people to have body contact," Thomas Andresen, mayor of Aabenraa, a city near the German border, told The New York Times.
For many, the recommendation to postpone last week was the last incongruity in a law they considered exclusive.
"It's absurd," said Peder Hvelplund, a socialist and green legislator, in an interview. "The road to Danish citizenship should be inclusion, not exclusion."
The delay could deprive some of their citizenship, Hvelplund added, because children under 18 who could have become Danish through the naturalization of their parents would probably have to start over if they got older.
"Some will probably have to undergo the process themselves," he said.
Mayor Hvidesten of Ringsted said he was taken by surprise when he received a call from the ministry, two hours before Friday's ceremony.
“We should have made some kind of exceptions; we could have done it without the handshake, ”he said.
Other Danes responded to the new rule by offering their own alternatives.
Sofie Carsten Nielsen, leader of the Danish Liberal Social Party, suggested on Twitter that people replaced the handshake with Namaste's gesture, pressing their hands together.
https://upnewsinfo.com/2020/03/07/n...the-coronavirus-stops-danish-naturalizations/
