Copenhagen:
<http://islamineurop e.blogspot. com/2008/ 02/copenhagen- riots-continue. html>
Riots continue
Police arrested 17 people for rioting tonight in Copenhagen, burning cars
and trash cans in Nørrebro, Tingbjerg, Vesterbro and Valby. All together 14
cars and 20 containers were set aflame, and there were 14 cases of
vandalism. Police want to keep five people under arrest.
Residents of a building in the Nørrebro district had to be evacuated since
police and the fire brigade feared the fire will spread to the building.
According to Jakob Kristensen of the Copenhagen police the riots were not
organized and the fire brigade were able to do their job and extinguish the
fire. Kristensen says the riots do not have to do with the reprinting of
the Muhammad cartoons, which were a cause for a smaller, peaceful
demonstration of 200 Muslims next to the municipality. Police were out in
massive forces and quieted down the riots.
There was rioting also elsewhere in Denmark. In the Århus suburb of
Brabrand (where the terrorists were arrested yesterday), a city bus was
stoned and needed a police escort to continue. In both Brabrand and
Kalundborg fire brigades were stoned and prevented from extinguishing
blazes.
In Nørrebro social worker Bjarne Feys suggests setting up a new youth-run
club for half-criminal immigrants in the neighborhood. He the young
immigrants are very frustrated about the police’s stress strategy and react
very irrationally. Today there’s only one active club, Kvisten, in inner
Nørrebro, but according to Bjarne Feys it’s not big enough, or up to the
task.
Mikkel Warming, in charge of social affairs at Copenhagen municipality, is
positive about the idea to establish an immigrant youth center in the center
of the Nørrebro melting pot. But integration consultant and author Mohammed
Rafiq advises against it. He is afraid that those who support the
suggestion have lost their judgment and that it will be misused by criminals
to sell drugs and stolen good.
Such a center will interfere with integration, since no Danes would come
there and instead he suggests regular sports such as football and swimming,
where Danish children and youth also take part.
Sources: <http://www.berlings ke.dk/article/ 20080214/ danmark/80214031 0/>
Berlingske Tidende, <http://ekstrabladet .dk/112/article9 74546.ece>
Ekstrabladet,
<http://avisen. dk/socialborgmes ter-unge- indvandrere- boer-have- ungdomshus- 120
208.aspx> Nyhedsavisen (Danish)
