The Youths of Vallensbæk

This TV news report from Denmark describes the harassment and threats directed at elderly native Danes in a Copenhagen neighborhood that has been enriched by the presence of young Muslim immigrants.

Many thanks to Michael Laudahn for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:


Transcript:

0:04		We Christians and Jews, we will be
0:08		beheaded, that’s what we were threatened with, there in the central staircase. -
0:12		Another one was also threatened that they would kill his dog.
0:16		These are not trivialities that the inhabitants of Nordmarkshave in Vallensbæk [SW Copenhagen] are being exposed to.
0:20		Here in the green area between the housing blocks, it happens on a daily
0:24		basis that especially the elderly inhabitants of the tenants’ association feel severely harassed
0:28		by youngsters entering here from other quarters. — Many second-generation immigrants
0:32		come here who disturb all the inhabitants,
0:36		in a way that they can’t tolerate. — What do they do? They call and shout and
0:40		smoke and what have you. Plus they
0:44		make a horrible mess in this area. They sit and
0:48		shout after people, if people tell them that this is a private area,
0:52		when people themselves want to go outside and sit at
0:56		the tables and seats there, but this is when they
1:00		shout telling them they are — well, the worst things. The worst
1:04		invective they can say. They are very
1:08		impolite towards people here, and I don’t think this can be acceptable.
1:16		And therefore, several of the tenants at Nordmarkshavens
1:20		Beboerforening had arranged a meeting with Københavns Vestegns Politi [police],
1:24		in order to ask for help. — Narcotics are being sold here, and they
1:28		always shout loudly, and they create insecurity among people out here.
1:32		They shout after people and spit at them. And we do know there
1:36		is a problem out here, and we have also worked to get the problem solved, but
1:40		it appears that this really is a massive problem, so
1:45		this is what we have found out — we were approached by many today, now that we are out here in this area. -
1:49		No, you don’t live here. — Abstain from … [?]
1:53		We are really fed up with your lies. -
1:57		Nordmarks Have consists of 12 3-storey housing blocks. They are situated in
2:01		Vallensbæk kommune, but border on Albertslund Center, separated only by this
2:05		channel. According to several of the people living there, the area is a centre for the sale of drugs,
2:09		something that really contributes to the experienced insecurity.
2:13		- At night around 10.30 or 11, a car comes, it hoots 3 times, then
2:17		this is like a jar filled with jam,
2:21		then they come from all sides, all the car’s doors
2:25		are opened, and they stand around the car, so we can figure out what happens there.
2:29		Then the doors are shut again, the car makes a u-turn, up the
2:33		driveway, with screeching tyres, and back on the street. -
2:37		That the older ones feel insecure and are afraid of the situation can clearly be heard in this clip, where participants
2:41		wish to remain anonymous. — It is their territory, they say.
2:45		They come there and say, this is our territory, if we say something to them.
2:49		So we can just beat it, ‘you old whore’, this is our territory. — Racist. -
2:53		Old shrew, some of them said. – F**k off to where you live. -
2:57		But this is horrible. — We cannot pretend as if
3:01		nothing had happened. We just can’t. I’m a bit afraid.
3:05		Especially at night.
3:09		So what can police do in this escalating conflict? -
3:13		You know, the issue has now been addressed at the local council,
3:17		together with the kommune, where we need to find a solution to what we will do out here,
3:21		to stop the young people and reestablish peace. We were approached before from
3:26		outside, but now we have come here with our police station,
3:30		so this gives the citizens a possibility to come here, and
3:34		it is good for us to come out here to the citizens, to talk with them about the problems out here,
3:38		and then we hope, of course, that this way security is created, by our presence out here.

For a complete listing of previous enrichment news, see The Cultural Enrichment Archives.