Danish Pakistanis form the country's fifth largest community of migrants and descendants from a non-Western country, with 14,379 migrants and 11,282 locally born people of
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
i descent as of 1 January 2019 according to the latest figures published by the government of Denmark.
Migration history
The earliest Pakistani migrants came to Denmark in the 1960s and 1970s as
migrant worker
A migrant worker is a person who migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have the intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work.
Migrant workers who work outsi ...
s, a large portion from
Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...
, in particular
Kharian
Kharian ( ur, ), is a city located within the Gujrat District of the Punjab province of Pakistan. Kharian is the headquarters of Kharian Tehsil. According to 2017 Census of Pakistan, it has a population of about 87,419.
It is known as Littl ...
and nearby regions, as it is in Norway as well. Though the Danish government restricted labour migration in 1973, the Pakistani community continued to grow, largely through
family reunification
Family reunification is a recognized reason for immigration in many countries because of the presence of one or more family members in a certain country, therefore, enables the rest of the divided family or only specific members of the family to e ...
and
transnational marriage
A transnational marriage or international marriage is a marriage between two people from different countries.
History
Transnational marriage has been attested since ancient times, often in instances where royal families sought to form alliances w ...
s. The spouses in these transnational marriages came largely from Pakistan, but roughly 3,000 were drawn from among the community of
British Pakistanis
British Pakistanis ( ur, (Bratānia men maqīm pākstānī); also known as Pakistani British people or Pakistani Britons) are citizens or residents of the United Kingdom whose ancestral roots lie in Pakistan. This includes people born in ...
as well. Beginning in the 1990s, the
Danish People's Party
The Danish People's Party ( da, Dansk Folkeparti, DPP/DF) is a nationalist and right-wing populist political party in Denmark. It was formed in 1995 by former members of the Progress Party (FrP).
The DPP lent its support to the Venstre– C ...
and the
Social Democrats
Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...
began to call for restrictions on family reunification in order to control the growth of immigrant communities. Among other restrictions included new laws introduced in early 2000 which require that both parties to transnational marriages be at least 24 years of age, that they must live in their own accommodation of at least twenty m per person and no more than two persons per room, and that the Denmark-resident applicant for a transnational marriage must have a gross income of kr 8,986. In response to the newly tightened migration requirements, more than a thousand Pakistanis from Denmark established residence in the Swedish border city of
Malmö
Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal pop ...
(on the strength of
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
laws on
freedom of movement for workers
The freedom of movement for workers is a policy chapter of the acquis communautaire of the European Union. The free movement of workers means that nationals of any member state of the European Union can take up an employment in another member stat ...
) and applied for family reunification there, taking advantage of the laxity of the Swedish laws in this regard. Most returned to Denmark after the process was complete. One of the more visible signs of this is the increasing number of cars with Swedish license plates in the Copenhagen suburb of
Ishøj
Ishøj is a Danish town with a population of 20,017 (1 January 2015).Denmark's oldest mosque, opened in Hvidovre_in_1967,_is_operated_by_the_Pakistan-based_Ahmadiyya_denomination.html" ;"title="Ahmadiyya.html" ;"title="Hvidovre in 1967, is operated by the Pakistan-based Ahmadiyya">Hvidovre in 1967, is operated by the Pakistan-based Ahmadiyya denomination">Ahmadiyya.html" ;"title="Hvidovre in 1967, is operated by the Pakistan-based Ahmadiyya">Hvidovre in 1967, is operated by the Pakistan-based Ahmadiyya denomination
Most Pakistanis in Denmark are Muslims. Like in other communities, a number of different movements are found, such as the Sunni Hanafi Barelwi movement is represented by the Muslim Institute in Copenhagen, while the Minhaj-ul-Quran movement and also maintains a presence in Amager,
Ishøj
Ishøj is a Danish town with a population of 20,017 (1 January 2015).Gladsaxe
Gladsaxe Kommune is a municipality (Danish, '' kommune'') near Copenhagen in Region Hovedstaden on the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark. The municipality covers an area of , and has a total population of 69,681 (2019). Its ma ...
, and Lyngby-Taarbæk. 43% regularly attend prayers at a mosque, the highest among immigrants from Muslim-majority countries and nearly double the average.
Pakistanis in Denmark have set up a number of religious schools. Of the fourteen Muslim schools in Denmark as of 1995, the majority are run by either Pakistanis or Arabs. Denmark has the highest percentage of privately run, publicly funded Muslim schools in Europe however, the presence of independent Muslim schools has drawn debate and criticism from members of the Danish public.
Like other European countries, Denmark also has a minor presence of followers of the
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Ahmadiyya (, ), officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ, ar, الجماعة الإسلامية الأحمدية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmīyah al-Aḥmadīyah; ur, , translit=Jamā'at Aḥmadiyyah Musl ...
, a heterodox sect formed during
British colonial rule
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts est ...
Qur'an
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...
into
Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
was performed by an Ahmadi Muslim convert. They also build the first purpose build mosque in Denmark which is located in Hvidovre, Copenhagen & was inaugurated in 1967.
Lifestyle
From the 1970s to the 1990s, it was common for Pakistani migrants in Denmark to use their family social networks back in Pakistan to arrange marriages for their children. Such marriages were often negatively portrayed as "
forced marriage
Forced marriage is a marriage in which one or more of the parties is married without their consent or against their will. A marriage can also become a forced marriage even if both parties enter with full consent if one or both are later force ...
s" in Danish media, especially in the case of
cousin marriage
A cousin marriage is a marriage where the spouses are cousins (i.e. people with common grandparents or people who share other fairly recent ancestors). The practice was common in earlier times, and continues to be common in some societies toda ...
s. However, with tightened requirements on transnational marriages, the number of marriages between Pakistanis in Denmark has increased instead. The proportion of such marriages doubled from 20% to 40% between 1989 and 2003. Common Pakistani marriage practises continued among migrants in Denmark with children marrying in their late teens or early twenties (especially for women) and newlyweds continuing to live with the groom's parents. Among the Pakistani youth between the ages of 17 and 27 years, 31% were either married or engaged, about average for immigrants from Muslim-majority countries. However, only 10% had girlfriends or boyfriends. Disagreement about marriage is often a source of intergenerational conflict. Of Pakistani youths with girlfriends or boyfriends, only 31% report that their parents accept their choice. Even parents who accept their children choosing their own spouses generally maintain an expectation of ethnic
endogamy
Endogamy is the practice of marrying within a specific social group, religious denomination, caste, or ethnic group, rejecting those from others as unsuitable for marriage or other close personal relationships.
Endogamy is common in many cultu ...
. In one widely publicised case in 2006, a 19-year-old girl died in an
honor killing
An honor killing (American English), honour killing (Commonwealth English), or shame killing is the murder of an individual, either an outsider or a member of a family, by someone seeking to protect what they see as the dignity and honor of ...
by her father and brothers because they disapproved of her choice of spouse. In general, though, attitudes towards marriage show a trend of liberalisation, with parents and their children continuing to expand their boundaries of who is or is not an acceptable marriage partner. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the divorce rate has also been growing.
Employment
2003 statistics on immigrants from Muslim-majority countries in Denmark found that Pakistanis had the lowest unemployment rate out of all groups surveyed, at 6.8%. 47% are members of trade unions.
Socioeconomics
Media
Pakistanis in Denmark were served by six Urdu-language publications as of 2008: ''Tarjumaan International'', a magazine for Asian Community in Europe promoting peace, harmony and mutual interaction among world communities, ''Al Djihad'', a magazine about Islamic and social activities published by Ahmediya Mosque. ''Binat-e-Islam'' by Minhaj-ul-Quran, a magazine aimed at young Muslim women. ''Shaheen'', ''Tanzeem'', and ''Waqar'' magazines focused on Pakistani culture and politics published on a monthly or bimonthly basis, and ''Etnica'', a multilingual journal which covers immigrant issues and politics in Denmark.
Crime
According to Statistics Denmark, 0,8% of male Pakistani descendants received a court sentence for violent crime in 2016, four times higher than the national average. This was at the lower end for non-Western immigrant males, where male Somali descendants were at the high end at 3.0%.
Health
Many Pakistanis in Denmark suffer from
vitamin D
Vitamin D is a group of fat-soluble secosteroids responsible for increasing intestinal absorption of calcium, magnesium, and phosphate, and many other biological effects. In humans, the most important compounds in this group are vitamin D3 (c ...
osteopenia
Osteopenia, known as "low bone mass" or "low bone density", is a condition in which bone mineral density is low. Because their bones are weaker, people with osteopenia may have a higher risk of fractures, and some people may go on to develop osteop ...
. Rates of veiling and staying indoors have been suggested as a reason for vitamin D deficiency.
Danish Social Liberal Party
The Danish Social Liberal Party ( da, Radikale Venstre, , Radical Left) is a social-liberal political party in Denmark. The party was founded as a split from the Venstre Reform Party in 1905.
Historically, the centrist party has played a cent ...