Morten Kjærum

Morten Kjærum, director of the "EU Agency for Fundamental Rights"

Morten Kjærum (born 30 March 1957) is a Danish lawyer, who is a former director of the Danish Institute for Human Rights and the current director of the "EU Agency for Fundamental Rights".^[1]

Political agenda

Kjærum is a strong apologetic of islam and multiculturalism and supports immigration from third world muslim countries to the EU.^[2] He defends egalitarianism and supports gay marriage.^[3] He also wants to constrain the freedom of speech through strict "hate speech" laws.^[4]

Life

Kjærum obtained his degree in law from Aarhus University in 1984. He was the Head of the Danish Refugee Asylum Department from 1984–1991, and in 1991 he became director of the Danish "Centre for Human Rights". When the Centre closed in 2002, Kjærum became director of the newly established Institute for Human Rights at the Danish Centre for International Studies and Human Rights, where he worked until May 2008. In 2002 he became a member of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) and in 2004 Chairman of the International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions (ICC). In March 2008 he was appointed director of the Vienna-based EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA).^[5] In May 2013, the FRA Management Board extended his contract as Director of the Agency for another 3 years, with effect from 1 June 2013.^[6]

In August 2008, Kjærum received a prize from the Danish National Association for Gays and Lesbians for promoting the rights of gays and lesbians.^[7]

Criticism & Protest

The rally in Vienna. Writings on the signs: "My homeland is not an immigration country", "Europe - youth -reconquista" (and others)

In November 2013 a demonstration of the Austrian patriotic movement Identitäre Bewegung (IBÖ)^[8] against Kjærum took place in front of the head office of the "EU Agency for Fundamental Rights" at Schwarzenbergplatz in Vienna because he stated in a speech that "Austria has to accept that it is a immigration country."^[9] The protesters shouted rallying cries such as "No we don't [have to accept this]! (Nein müssen wir nicht!)" or "Fortress Europe: Close the borders! (Festung Europa: Macht die Grenzen dicht)". A speaker stated that this planned and actually occurring population exchange is a form of genocide and that the people have never been asked about it. Another apprehension was that the continuing mass immigration from Africa and Asia Minor will lead to a total islamisation of Europe and the loss of the identity of the European people.^[10] The Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) also heavily criticised Kjærum's statements.^[11] The top-ranking politician Barbara Rosenkranz stated the doctrine of multiculturalism and mass immigration has been decided by the EU administration against the will of the people and in fact leads to a lot of problems like the growth of immigrant ghettos and parallel Islamic societies in European cities, which in turn cause an explosion of crime and violence against the autochthonous peoples.^[12]

References