In Danish ‘ghettos’, immigrants feel stigmatised
In urban areas of Denmark officially designated as "ghettos", some residents feel stigmatised and excluded from mainstream society.
Denmark is the only country to formally classify certain residential zones as ghettos. An area fits into the category if more than half of its inhabitants originate from non-Western countries and it also matches certain other criteria, such as unemployment exceeding 40 percent.
Blocks of houses in Mjolnerparken.
Resident Raouf Al-Hilw, originally from Iraq, practices with his football team F.C. Babylon which is made up of people of Iraqi decent, on a football pitch next to Mjolnerparken.
A group of women of Somali descent react as they play rounders in a park in Mjolnerparken.
Batul and Jenan sit together on a swing in a park in Mimersparken, a recently designed urban renewal space next to Mjolnerparken.
Ibtisam Ashur, a resident of Mjolnerparken, rides a bus during an excursion to the seaside with "Sjakket," a youth group that provides activities and support for children that live in socially vulnerable areas.
A woman rides by Mjolnerparken.
A woman rides a bicycle past a hijab store near Mjolnerparken.
Hijabs for sale sit on mannequin heads in a specialty hijab store beside Mjolnerparken.
A group participates in a Zumba-style fitness class, catered for women in Mjolnerparken.
Men participate in the Friday prayer or the Prayer of Jummah in The Grand Mosque of Copenhagen, officially known as the Hamad Bin Khalifa Civilisation Center, a Sunni mosque popular with residents of nearby Mjolnerparken.
Mohammed Aslam, the elected chairperson of Mjolnerparken, a housing estate that features on the Danish government's "Ghetto List", poses for a photograph.
Women gather in Cafe Nora, a social club for women.
Senior residents prepare to eat their evening meal in their communal dining area in block designated for seniors in Mjolnerparken.
Hussein, 36, originally from Pakistan, takes a break from studying for his PhD in his apartment in Mjolnerparken.
Hanan Mohamed, 14, completes her math homework as part of an after school program in Mjolnerparken.
Guests from places within Denmark and Northern Europe sit together at the engagement party of a resident in Mjolnerparken.
Mudasir Khan, originally from Pakistan, sits with his nephew Yaeesh Rao Khan in Mjolnerparken.
John Khan, originally from Pakistan and now a resident in Mjolnerparken, takes a telephone call in his bicycle shop.
Islamic paraphernalia sits amongst tools in the workshop of Mohammed, 31, a lifelong resident of Mjolnerparken.
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"I went to a doctor when I was younger with a backache and the doctor asked me if my husband beat me, and I was like 'no!'" said Umm-Meyounah, 37, a mother-of-two who was born to Danish parents and married an immigrant from the Middle East.
"This is what you're dealing with all the time. You're spending all your time explaining that you're not getting beaten up at home or that you're not a terrorist."
