Copahegan, August 18: A majority of Danes fear Islam is an obstacle for social cohesion, despite one in two believing that immigration is positive for Danish society, a study released today shows.
In a survey by the Ramboell institute, some 54.9 percent believe Islam hinders social harmony, while 39.9 percent disagree and 5.2 percent did not comment.
Yet 49.7 percent of respondents believe that immigration since the 1960s – and the integration of immigrants, refugees and their offspring – have been generally positive for Danish society.
Some 42.4 percent believe immigrants have been negative for society and 5.9 percent abstained from comment.
“People find it difficult to discern between culture and religion and see honour crimes and forced marriages as a part of Islam,” Imran Shah, spokesman for the Danish Islamic community told, which published the results of the survey.
He said this attitude means Islam is therefore seen as a problem for Denmark’s liberal society.
The results of the study, which interviewed 970 people from August 9-12, were published in Jyllands-Posten as part of a long series on immigration.
-Agencies