The Danish government is sounding the alarm over the number of immigrants from ‘non-Western’ claiming disability pensions.
The ruling party appears ready to finally take action following a report out of the Confederation of Danish Employers showing that immigrants from countries including Iraq, Lebanon and Somalia are claiming disability and receiving pensions at a far higher rate than other nationalities.
Employment Minister Ane Halsboe-Jørgensen, a member of the Social Democrats, reported that 12 percent of non-Western foreigners received disability pensions in 2023 versus 6 percent of Danes> However, when certain non-Western countries are singled out, some of the rates are astronomical, with Lebanese and Iraqis claiming disability pensions at rates of 41 percent and 32 percent, respectively.
2 out 3 Muslim immigrants are taking early retirement in Denmark and receiving excellent pensions while those of Danish origin continue working. One Danish MP has already responded, saying: “We cannot sit idly by on this.” https://t.co/2o2QWXQEry
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) November 19, 2024Her ministry will be confirming these figures, as they “are so drastic that we can’t ignore them” and introduce “a plan to target this without causing undue concern for the many Danes who are eligible for disability pensions.”
Countries considered “Western” include all EU member states, Andorra, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, San Marino, Switzerland, the Vatican, Canada, U.K., U.S., Australia and New Zealand.
Troels Lund Poulsen, the deputy prime minister of Denmark and leader of the liberal Venstre party (coalition partner of the Social Democrats), told the Berlingske news portal that the numbers indicate “a tendency to approve disability pensions on softer grounds to those groups,” adding that this is a “serious” issue, as there can’t be “one set of rules for immigrants and another for Danes.”
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has also recently called for Syrians to return home in the wake of Bashar al-Assad being ousted. Some 35,000 Syrians currently reside in Denmark, many of whom do not hold permanent residency permits. The government has also announced that it is halting all individual permit applications for Syrian nationals.
The issue of retirement and pensions has also been in the media for other reasons in Denmark. Last month, it was reported that two out of three individuals from Muslims over the age of 50 are taking early retirement in the country, putting a massive burden on the system’s pension system.
In a famed article from 2021 entitled “Why have Danes turned on migration?” The Economist wrote that migrants are draining the country’s social welfare system.
“In October the finance ministry, in its annual report on the issue, estimated that in 2018 immigrants from non-Western countries and their descendants drained from public finances a net 31 billion kroner ($4.9bn), some 1.4 percent of GDP. Immigrants from Western countries, by contrast, contributed a net 7 billion kroner,” wrote The Economist.
