I am not foreign. I feel at home, because I have made myself a life here. And I have acquainted myself with the Danish culture. I have read the Bible, I know that Fyn is “fine”, and that when you are in Southern Jutland you say “mojn”. I know the works of Hans Christian Andersen and Søren Kierkegaard. But that is completely and utterly pointless when the Danish People’s Party demand that immigrants must go to church to be Danish, especially when the majority of Danes don’t do it.
When I arrived in Denmark I did not know my date of birth. When I asked my mother how old I was, she replied: How old do you feel? In Somalia we don’t have national identity numbers. Our names tell us who we are and where we come from. Actually my name once saved my life. I stood, literally, with a bag over my head and a gun to my neck, when someone recognised my grandfather’s name, and he could therefore vouch for me. That saved my life.
The conflict in Somalia is still to be resolved, yet Denmark has chosen to deport 2,000 Somalis. 20 children have already been sent “home”, but everybody stays stum about it. I know that this would not have happened if we had convinced the Danish population that we have done something for Denmark.
I am a biomedical scientist and really pleased with my life in Denmark, but it annoys me that the politicians legislate about things they know nothing about. They seem very isolated at Christiansborg, and they know nothing about what goes on in the community. I think that you should place the politicians in an internship before they are allowed to make decisions about for instance the national health service.
64 years / male / single / children / biomedical scientist / Ballerup / from Somaliland / came to Denmark in 1973 / residence permit same year