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Wednesday, 19 August 2009

Intolerance

Last night a concert was held at Rådhuspladsen (City Hall Square) to support asylum for 282 Iraqi refugees, that have been rejected by the Danish refugee authorities. A six hour long event with many of the best names in Danish music. Among them Trentemøller, Lars H.U.G, Simon Kvamm, Niels Hausgaard, Sebastian - and many more. They were there to put the focus on tolerance under the slogan of 'If there are rules in effect that contradict humanity - it's not humanity that is the problem.'

The 282 Iraqi refugees have been thrown out of a Danish church where they had spent a few months in protest of being rejected, because Iraq still isn't safe to return to. They have now been thrown out of church and into confinement. Every human rights body from a Danish center for research in torture victims (RCT), Amnesty International to UNHCR have protested that throwing them in confinement is at odds with the torture paragraphs in the UN Human Rights Convention.

Even voters are against this government policy with about 80-90 percent in the opposition parties, and even within the government's own electorate, with close to 60 percent against this policy. Despite this the Danish government and the Minister of Refugee, Immigration and Integration Affairs, Birthe Rønn Hornbech, stand firm on the issue referring to Danish law and rules. With an indictment from human rights associations as a result. Paradox: Have rules become more important than humanity and tolerance?