Pakistanis in Denmark - Migration History

Migration History

The earliest Pakistani migrants came to Denmark in the 1960s and 1970s as migrant workers, a large portion from Punjab, in particular Kharian 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 and transnational marriages. The spouses in these transnational marriages came largely from Pakistan, but roughly 3,000 were drawn from among the community of British Pakistanis as well. Beginning in the 1990s, the Danish People's Party and the Social Democrats 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 the 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 m2
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 Swedish border city of Malmö (on the strength of European Union laws on freedom of movement for workers) 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.