New citizens are convicted at half the rate of Danes, figures show

People granted Danish citizenship are less likely to be convicted of violating the Criminal Code than the population as a whole, according to a new analysis by Statistics Denmark for DR.

Of those granted citizenship between 2018 and 2024, 0.2 per cent were convicted of a Criminal Code offence in the year they received citizenship or the following year. The comparable figure for Danes is about 0.4 per cent in a single year.

Research professor Lars Højsgaard Andersen, who studies crime for the Rockwool Foundation, said citizenship applicants must meet many requirements over a period of time. People who fulfil them and are granted citizenship are therefore unlikely to commit crimes afterwards, he said.

Rules were tightened in 2018, barring people with longer sentences or convictions for offences such as gang crime, violence against children and sexual offences from becoming citizens. Speeding fines above 3,000 kroner add a four-year-and-six-month wait, while fines for violating drug laws add six years, regardless of the amount.

Statistics from the Ministry of Immigration and Integration show that men from predominantly Muslim countries in the Middle East and Africa are convicted of crimes at two to three times the rate of the rest of the population. But among those who obtain citizenship, the analysis found no higher rate of Criminal Code convictions than among people born in Denmark.

Ayham Abdalmajeed Abdullah, who fled the war in Syria and is named in a bill that would grant him Danish citizenship, said applicants who have waited a long time and taken care to meet the requirements should not make reckless decisions. He is married to a Danish citizen and has two children.

Andersen said the risk of crime by people who have recently received citizenship should be considered very low. He also said it would be unusual and unlikely for the rate to be zero, adding that demanding no crime at all would set the bar very high.