[lg policy] Danish Clubs bar Migrants in Language Row

[Harold Schiffman]

*Danish Clubs bar Migrants in Language Row*

Some nightclubs in Denmark are reportedly refusing entry to migrants unless
they speak either Danish, English or German.

It comes after claims that asylum seekers and refugees have been harassing
female guests.

Women in at least three Danish cities, Thisted, Haderslev and Sonderborg,
have recently reported they feel uncomfortable at night because of how some
migrants behave in bars and clubs.

Clubgoer Stephanie Kleis Nielsen in Sonderborg told TV SYD: "I feel
inconvenienced because they want to reach us all the time and they do not
understand an answer.

"They stare and are very pushy.
[image: GERMANY-EUROPE-MIGRANTS]
Video: Migrants Banned From German Pool

"I have experienced standing outside a nightclub where my hair was pulled
and it is uncomfortable that people need to tinker with me.

"It is tiresome and annoying. If they must be in the nightlife, so they
must learn how to behave in Denmark."

It comes in the wake of dozens of *alleged assaults on women by migrants in
Cologne*
<http://news.sky.com/story/1618820/cologne-police-chief-removed-over-assaults>,
Germany, on New Year's Eve.

And German town Bornheim *has banned male asylum seekers from a public
swimming pool*
<http://news.sky.com/story/1623889/pool-ban-for-migrants-after-women-harassed>
after women complained they were being sexually harassed.

Some drinking premises in Denmark are believed to have brought in extra
security guards while others have decided to keep out guests who are unable
to communicate with staff.

Among the clubs that have adopted the new policy is reportedly the Buddy
Holly discotheque in Sonderborg where no one can enter unless they can
speak either Danish, English or German.

Several others are considering a similar move, said industry group Danmarks
Restauranter og Cafeer, which has over 1,500 members nationwide.

"If you have a group of guests that comes in and displays threatening
behaviour then it presents some security-related challenges if you cannot
enter into a dialogue," its managing director, Torben Hoffmann Rosenstock,
told TV2.

But Amnesty International has hit out at the language policy, saying it is
discriminatory.
[image: One of the men arrested by police in Cologne on New Year's Eve]
Video: Cologne Police Chief Suspended

Claus Juul told Sky News: "We acknowledged the need to protect the rights
of women - the right to interact and move around publicly, and the need to
educate newcomers about the gender equality situation in Denmark.

"At the same time, however, a state of law cannot resort to general
prohibitions and restriction aimed at particular groups exclusively on
grounds of their national or regional origin."

He claimed that bars were using security reasons as a cover to indirectly
discriminate against migrants.

"This type of action has to be rejected," he said, urging Danes "not to do
this to minorities and sink to that level".

Earlier this month, Denmark and Sweden tightened border checks to stem the
flow of migrants coming from Germany.

The Danish government announced it was stepping up controls of its border
with Germany, to make sure migrants heading for Sweden do not get stuck in
Denmark.

"The government doesn't want Denmark to become a new big destination for
refugees," Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen said.

Sweden demanded all passengers travelling by train from Denmark show
identification, something that has not been required since the 1950s.

The moves come after more than one million migrants, including from
conflict-hit Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, entered the EU in 2015.


http://news.sky.com/story/1625755/danish-clubs-bar-migrants-in-language-row
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