Should we be a national minority in Denmark?

The Greenland Committee of the Danish Parliament, headed by Aaja Chemnitz (IA), held a hearing on the rights of Greenlanders the day before the Prime Minister called elections to the Danish Parliament.

A final act of popular vote before the election campaign was launched for those running for office.

The Parliament Hall in Christiansborg was well-attended by both Greenlanders and others with an interest in the Greenlandic people in Denmark.

One of the topics discussed by the Greenland Committee's chairperson was whether Greenlanders in Denmark should be a national minority. A topic that has been raised before, but nothing has happened. But it is clearly intended to be discussed among the more than 17,000 Greenlanders who, for various reasons, live in Denmark.

A task that Aaja Chemnitz passes on to the participants of the hearing and all of us in the audience with the following five headings: linguistic rights, the right to culture and education, protection against discrimination, political representation and participation, and social and health rights.

I myself have asked myself the question of what advantages there would be if Greenlanders in Denmark became a national minority. Because as an indigenous people, we are already protected under the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and ILO Convention No. 169 concerning Indigenous Peoples and Tribal Peoples in Independent States.

Greenlanders in Denmark already have the opportunity for interpreting assistance when needed, the opportunity for mother tongue education in elementary school, and there is an action plan against racism with a separate section on Greenlanders, which contains 12 initiatives to combat discrimination and racism.

Will the label "National minority" make life easier and better as a Greenlander in Denmark? Are there advantages for us if we become one? Or is it just a fun project that potentially turns some people into cake pops?

Personally, I am very excited about whether it will have an impact on the work that my two colleagues and I are currently working on – namely, setting up a small website-based news outlet about Greenlanders in Denmark for Greenlanders in Denmark. Because the outlet has received support from the Danish Media Board, there is a requirement that the content we publish is in Danish.

It hurts my heart, because our target audience is Greenlanders. It feels wrong to write in Danish to our primary target audience. We just don't have the resources to publish in both Greenlandic and Danish. If Greenlanders in Denmark became a national minority, then it might be possible to apply for support to publish in both languages.

But the most important thing is what the majority can benefit from as a national minority. Whether it will be felt in everyday life. Whether the view of a part of the Danish population towards us Greenlanders can be improved, so that everyday life is not marred by negative statements and the feeling of being treated differently.

As far as I can understand, there is a lot of work ahead of us to be recognized as a national minority in Denmark, just as 15,000 Germans in Denmark are. There is someone or some who will have to roll up their sleeves and take on the big task, the necessary effort that will be required.

Because it will be quite a struggle to convince the incoming Danish government, when previous governments have rejected it. The other challenge is that we are spread far and wide in small Denmark, and we are difficult to bring together. It's quite a task to undertake, and I'll be following it with interest.