EU Immigration Crisis Megathread

[Liep]

Is 18 the age at which one can legally get married in Denmark?  In most American states, you can get married at 16.  If a 17 year old American and their 16 year old spouse travelled to Denmark, could they expect the state to forcibly separate them if they're not Muslims?

18 unless you can get a dispensation. Dispensation can be granted down to 15 if the girl is pregnant. For couples already married Denmark accepts it if the origin country accepts it and both parties consented and were above 15 at the time of marriage.

[Martinus]

Is 18 the age at which one can legally get married in Denmark?  In most American states, you can get married at 16.  If a 17 year old American and their 16 year old spouse travelled to Denmark, could they expect the state to forcibly separate them if they're not Muslims?

18 unless you can get a dispensation. Dispensation can be granted down to 15 if the girl is pregnant. For couples already married Denmark accepts it if the origin country accepts it and both parties consented and were above 15 at the time of marriage.

Ok, so we have clear law on this. What is unclear to me is whether it was enforced or not. The argument that the victim in this case may have felt bad about law being enforced is kinda irrelevant - for the same reason, we do not let pedophiles rape their victims even if the victims "like it".

[dps]

I was responding to his statement the while he didn't know the age of the girls involved, they were under 18, which implied that under 18 is considered underage for marriage in Denmark, and if that is the case, I was curious as to how Denmark handles people under that age who are legally married in their home countries if they come to Denmark under more "normal" circumstances, i.e., not as part of a mass movement of refugees.

EDIT:  Ah, Ok, answered while I was typing this post.

[Liep]

Ok, so we have clear law on this. What is unclear to me is whether it was enforced or not. The argument that the victim in this case may have felt bad about law being enforced is kinda irrelevant - for the same reason, we do not let pedophiles rape their victims even if the victims "like it".

It wasn't enforced, the couples were granted private quaters in the camps and then they weren't because of the new law. When the girls were removed however they began behaving like I've already written. That was beyond the capabilites of the camps and now the question is which is the lesser evil. Neither is preferable.

I've read the cases now Mart and there are many different examples, one fx, a 15 year old girl was removed from her 17 year old husband (marriage was before age of 15 though), one pregnant 14 year girl was removed from her 24 year old husband. Two different cases here and two different "best" solutions.

[Martinus]

Ok, so we have clear law on this. What is unclear to me is whether it was enforced or not. The argument that the victim in this case may have felt bad about law being enforced is kinda irrelevant - for the same reason, we do not let pedophiles rape their victims even if the victims "like it".

It wasn't enforced, the couples were granted private quaters in the camps and then they weren't because of the new law. When the girls were removed however they began behaving like I've already written. That was beyond the capabilites of the camps and now the question is which is the lesser evil. Neither is preferable.

I've read the cases now Mart and there are many different examples, one fx, a 15 year old girl was removed from her 17 year old husband (marriage was before age of 15 though), one pregnant 14 year girl was removed from her 24 year old husband. Two different cases here and two different "best" solutions.

So at least in the case of the pregnant 14 year old girl with a 24 year old husband, the husband should have been charged and jailed - that's why I asked if anyone was. Do you agree?

[Liep]

So at least in the case of the pregnant 14 year old girl with a 24 year old husband, the husband should have been charged and jailed - that's why I asked if anyone was. Do you agree?

He has been charged for paedophilia in that case. I can't find any information about what happened later.

[Martinus]

Well, ok.

The way you originally presented it, it sounded much worse than it actually happened.

[Liep]

Well, ok.

The way you originally presented it, it sounded much worse than it actually happened.

That was an extreme case and probably what made the politician react the way they did. What I was mainly talking about was cases where it did more damage removing the wives even if the marriage happened before the age of 15.

Another case is a 17 year old girl with two children married to a 25 year old man, I don't think separating them because there's no legal marriage is a very good solution if the girl is then left to herself. What if she is denied asylum before him and sent back alone? 18 years, two kids and no husband might not be fun in Afghanistan.

[Zanza]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37271971

Angela Merkel's CDU suffers Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania poll blow

Angela Merkel's ruling CDU party has been beaten into third place by an anti-immigrant and anti-Islam party in elections in a north-eastern German state.

The Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD) party took just under 21% of the vote behind the centre-left SPD's 30%.

The German chancellor's CDU was backed by only 19% of voters, its worst ever result in the state.

The vote was seen as a key test before German parliamentary elections in 2017.

Before the vote in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, in the former East Germany, all of Germany's other parties ruled out forming a governing coalition with the AfD. But the party, formed only three years ago, is already represented in nine of Germany's 16 state parliaments.

One leading CDU politician called the result catastrophic, while another, Wolfgang Bosbach, said the arrival of hundreds of thousands of migrants without documents had "put the wind in the AfD's sails".


Analysis: By Jenny Hill, BBC Berlin correspondent

This is humiliating for Angela Merkel - not least because this was on home turf. Mrs Merkel's constituency is in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania.

This election - which was seen as a significant test ahead of next year's general election - was all about her refugee policy. For a year she's insisted 'Wir schaffen es' (we can do it) but German voters aren't convinced.

Alternative fuer Deutschland's anti immigrant and increasingly strident anti-Islam message has a powerful appeal to people concerned about integration and worried about domestic security.
It doesn't look good for Mrs Merkel. Her approval ratings are at a five-year low. But don't be tempted to write her off just yet - she has a habit of bouncing back and there is no serious contender waiting in the wings to replace her.

Under her leadership, Germany has been taking in large numbers of refugees and migrants - 1.1 million last year - and anti-immigrant feeling has increased.

The AfD, initially an anti-euro party, has enjoyed a rapid rise as the party of choice for voters dismayed by Mrs Merkel's policy.

But its political power is limited and critics accuse it of engaging in xenophobic scaremongering.

The CDU has been the junior coalition partner in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania since 2006 and is likely to remain in the governing coalition. However, its 19% in the election is its worst ever result in the state, German broadcasters said.

"The strong performance of AfD is bitter for many, for everyone in our party," said CDU secretary general Peter Tauber. "A sizeable number of people wanted to voice their displeasure and to protest. And we saw that particularly in discussions about refugees."

BBC Berlin correspondent Damien McGuinness says that following her political embarrassment, Mrs Merkel will now come under greater pressure to change her welcoming position on refugees.
Addressing supporters, local AfD leader Leif-Erik Holm said: "Perhaps this is the beginning of the end of Angela Merkel's chancellorship today."

Mrs Merkel, who is in China for the G20 summit, told Bild newspaper on Saturday: "We did not reduce benefits for anyone in Germany as a result of the aid for refugees. In fact, we actually saw social improvements in some areas.

"We took nothing away from people here. We are still achieving our big goal of maintaining and improving the quality of life in Germany."

As we discussed similar developments in Germany earlier in this thread, I'll just necro it and not start a new one.

The CDU basically just lost about 3-4%, similar to the other parties really (SPD, Left and Greens all lost a bit as well) but the result is significant as the AfD has more votes than the CDU for the first time ever. Mecklenburg - Western Pommerania is rather insignificant, it's the least densely populated state with just 2% of the population, but it's just one in a long series.

In two weeks, there are state elections in the federal state of Berlin. Let's see how that much more urban electorate will vote.

Anyway, Germany will likely have five or six parties in the next federal parliament, which is elected in September 2017. The CDU and SPD will lose compared to their last result, the AfD will surely make it to parliament and the Greens and Left will likely stagnate or have minor losses. The FDP might just be able to rejoin parliament.

That will pose an interesting situation to form a government in 2017. It could be a conservative-green government for the first time. Merkel and the top politician of the Greens openly favor that.

[The Brain]

Greens.

[dps]

So at least in the case of the pregnant 14 year old girl with a 24 year old husband, the husband should have been charged and jailed - that's why I asked if anyone was. Do you agree?

He has been charged for paedophilia in that case. I can't find any information about what happened later.

To get a conviction, will they have to prove that he had sex with he after arriving in Denmark, or will it be sufficient to prove he had sex with her abroad (where it might have been legal)?