By Alvin Heung Hiu Fung
4/5/2025
People of all ages and nationalities gathered on the concrete during on an average tuesday afternoon. The sound of bright-colored sneakers scrape against asphalt while hip-hop plays in the background during a pick-up game inside the GAME StreetMekka Copenhagen sports house at 4:00pm.
Photo:
Photo by Alvin Heung: People from different ethnic backgrounds playing a pickup game at the StreetMekka indoor basketball court.
From 2020Q4-2024Q4 the population of immigrants increased by 21.6% according to figures taken from Statistics Denmark. This upsurge in immigrants have resulted in not only political and public discussion. This has led to discussions in politics, particularly about the controversial ghetto law which allows the “state to demolish apartment blocks in areas where at least half of residents have a “non-western” background according to Miranda Bryant a reporter from the Guardian.
On the other hand, a topic that is often overlooked are the challenges and experiences that immigrants face and how they have a right to feel like they are part of Danish society.
Source: Statistics Denmark Graph showing the increase of legal immigrant population from 2020Q1 to 2024 Q4.
GAME is a non-profit international NGO that “creates social change through youth-led street sports and culture.” For the past 15 years, the organization has built indoor and outdoor sports facilities for communities in Europe and the Middle east.
The industrial looking sports facility gives it an almost underground feeling where all the cool kids gather, not only does StreetMekka offer facilities for conventional sports like basketball but also has a dance studio and parkour facilities.
The NGO was founded by Martin Schultz, George M. Goldsmith and Simon Prahm in 2002 to empower “children and youth from vulnerable areas and refugee settings” through street sports and has facilities in over ten countries from Denmark to Lebanon.
“It’s quite nice here, anybody can just show up and play pick up games.” said Agi Dorj a 63-year-old from Mongolia playing basketball at StreetMekka.
Being an immigrant and living in a new culture can have serious consequences for a person’s mental health. “In the winter months, people get aggressive and agitated and really make sure you have a strong circle of friends, it really is a struggle and can really take the light from you.” said Reva Hagins, the manager of GAME Streetmekka located in Copenhagen.
“I had a friend in Aarhus; he used to be the most outgoing person. Essentially, Denmark killed him to the point where he was suffering from depression. He would try to open his mouth and be like, ‘Hey, how are you doing?’ and then people would say, ‘Mind your business.'” said Hagins describing the change in behavior during Winter.
According to the Danish Ministry of Immigration and Integration, many residence permits are granted to those looking for work 26%, studies 23%, and EU citizens 37%. This means that the largest group of people to be granted resident permits are citizens from the EU.
“I’ve lived in Denmark for 25 years and I was really lucky since I got a couple of friends when I arrived even thought I didn’t speak Danish.” Said Dorj, who recently suffered a knee injury playing basketball.
However, not everyone is as lucky as Dorj. Some experience racism and language discrimination in both daily life and at work.
“I’ve been here sixteen years, and I think the biggest challenge is that if you don’t have a high education finding work here is going to be hard because of the language…” said, Hagins originally from Cape Town and the U.S. “When I was in Højskole, I was racially profiled every weekend by the local police. They knew I lived on the campus, the car I drove but they would still pull me over every Friday.”
Organizations such as GAME provide a space for local Danish and Non-native immigrants an environment to interact through sports and could be a potential way of slowly integrating minority groups into society in a positive way. By humanizing immigrants and providing a space for them to share hobbies and to build a community.
This article is targeted towards an audience interested in statistics, politics and social issues. It could be published on websites such as Bloomberg, WSJ, or FT.