Friday, November 28, 2014
Danes fighting for Isis in Syria on welfare benefits
Rebel fighters in the northern Syrian Aleppo province. Photo: Mohamed Zeen/AFP PHOTO/Scanpix
Published: 27 Nov 2014 13:45 GMT+01:00
Denmark paid
unemployment benefits to 28 people while they were waging war for the
Isis terrorist group in Syria, the Danish intelligence service was
quoted as saying on Thursday.
Out of the 28
Danish people identified by the Danish Security and Intelligence Service
(PET) as having received benefits, 15 had been ordered to pay the money
back, eight people were still being investigated, and five cases had
been dropped due to insufficient evidence, tabloid BT reported.
"It is incredibly important that we are not naive," Justice Minister
Mette Frederiksen told the daily when asked about the data, which was
found by merging records kept by different authorities.
Denmark has one of the world's most generous unemployment insurance systems, with those on the dagpenge scheme receiving up to 801 kroner per day (108 euros, $134) for up to two years.
However, some of the jihadists were on the significantly more modest basic unemployment benefit known as kontanthjælp.
See also: More Scandinavians joining Isis
Denmark has the second largest number of foreign fighters in Syria
relative to its size among Western nations, after Belgium, according to
some estimates.
The Danish intelligence
service has said "more than 100" Danes have left the country for Syria's
bloody civil war, but a Danish commentator on Middle Eastern affairs,
Naser Khader, said he believed the estimate – from June – was higher and needed to be revised upwards.
"The figure is rising in many other countries, so why should that not
be the case in Denmark?" he told the Berlingske newspaper.
Germany's intelligence agency said last week it believes 550 Germans
have joined extremist groups in Syria and Iraq. Authorities had
previously estimated the number at 450. Britain believes around 500 of
its citizens are fighting for Isis.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment