Dorrit Moussaieff Comments on Immigration
Yesterday, Dorrit Moussaieff - wife of Icelandic president Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson - became an Icelandic citizen. I'm very happy for her, and for her enthusiastic attitude regarding Iceland. As she says in today's Fréttablaðið:
"Where else in the world do people have it so good [than in Iceland]? You have the food, the air, the water, and the people are wonderful. I think Icelanders don't know how good they have it."
Fine words of praise. However, two comments drew my attention.
Moussaieff told reporters that, "It should not be easy to become an Icelandic citizen. It's very necessary that we choose carefully who gets to become an Icelander."
This comment surprised me - Moussaieff can rest assured that it isn't easy to become an Icelandic citizen. A person who immigrates to Iceland from a non-EU country must wait seven years to even be eligible, cannot leave the country for more than six months, and cannot accept most social benefits (such as unemployment) for the last two years, not to mention the 150 hours of Icelandic language classes that must be attended just to qualify for permanent resident status. Then, and only then, can a non-EU citizen who hasn't married an Icelander apply for citizenship. Becoming an Icelander is anything but easy.
I'd also be curious to know by what standard Moussaieff feels we must "carefully choose" who gets citizenship. Currently, any sort of criminal record pretty much excludes one from becoming a citizen and, as stated before, one cannot have drawn social support for the past two years - they must be capable of taking care of themselves. What further standards need to be imposed? Cultural? Religious? Political? We can only guess.
Another comment that sprung up in the interview was, "We have to make sure that people who come here give something back and don't live off of people who were here first."
People who come to this country have to work. They aren't "living off of" anybody. More often than not, they do the work that no one else can do or is willing to do. They work in construction, they clean offices and schools, the work in fish factories, in homes for the handicapped and the elderly, not to mention the myriad of other jobs that are held by both Icelanders and immigrants alike. They pay their taxes here and raise their families here. Some even start businesses of their own. If this isn't "giving something back", I don't know what is.
Again, I'm happy that Moussaieff has become a citizen and that she appreciates this country. But some of her comments clearly prove that there's still a long way to go in the struggle to clear up certain misconceptions that some people have about new Icelanders.
"Where else in the world do people have it so good [than in Iceland]? You have the food, the air, the water, and the people are wonderful. I think Icelanders don't know how good they have it."
Fine words of praise. However, two comments drew my attention.
Moussaieff told reporters that, "It should not be easy to become an Icelandic citizen. It's very necessary that we choose carefully who gets to become an Icelander."
This comment surprised me - Moussaieff can rest assured that it isn't easy to become an Icelandic citizen. A person who immigrates to Iceland from a non-EU country must wait seven years to even be eligible, cannot leave the country for more than six months, and cannot accept most social benefits (such as unemployment) for the last two years, not to mention the 150 hours of Icelandic language classes that must be attended just to qualify for permanent resident status. Then, and only then, can a non-EU citizen who hasn't married an Icelander apply for citizenship. Becoming an Icelander is anything but easy.
I'd also be curious to know by what standard Moussaieff feels we must "carefully choose" who gets citizenship. Currently, any sort of criminal record pretty much excludes one from becoming a citizen and, as stated before, one cannot have drawn social support for the past two years - they must be capable of taking care of themselves. What further standards need to be imposed? Cultural? Religious? Political? We can only guess.
Another comment that sprung up in the interview was, "We have to make sure that people who come here give something back and don't live off of people who were here first."
People who come to this country have to work. They aren't "living off of" anybody. More often than not, they do the work that no one else can do or is willing to do. They work in construction, they clean offices and schools, the work in fish factories, in homes for the handicapped and the elderly, not to mention the myriad of other jobs that are held by both Icelanders and immigrants alike. They pay their taxes here and raise their families here. Some even start businesses of their own. If this isn't "giving something back", I don't know what is.
Again, I'm happy that Moussaieff has become a citizen and that she appreciates this country. But some of her comments clearly prove that there's still a long way to go in the struggle to clear up certain misconceptions that some people have about new Icelanders.
posted by Paul F Nikolov at 1:48 PM
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