Socially vulnerable Greenlanders risk homelessness when they move to Denmark. But it doesn’t have to be that way, says a researcher. She urges investment in people before they end up homeless.
Not everyone gets the dream start they hoped for when purchasing a one-way ticket to Denmark. Research indicates that socially vulnerable Greenlanders often fall through the cracks of the system meant to support them.
“It’s a system that forces socially vulnerable Greenlanders into a downward spiral that they can hardly fight their way out of. Greenlanders in Denmark are Denmark’s responsibility, but we are not taking that responsibility.”
These are the words of Mille Bianco Schiermacher, an anthropologist and Ph.D. student at Ilisimatusarfik, who has been studying socially vulnerable Greenlanders’ encounters with the Danish system since 2010.
“Why must they experience homelessness before we invest in them?”
– Mille Bianco Schiermacher
Homeless shelters: the first (and last) stop
For the past 14 years, Mille Bianco Schiermacher has worked with socially vulnerable Greenlanders, holding positions on the Council for Socially Marginalized People and at institutions like the Greenlandic House in Copenhagen and Kofoed’s School. In 2020, she published the report From Greenland to the Streets, which examines how socially vulnerable Greenlanders experience their transition to Denmark.
“My research shows that many enter through vulnerable environments, such as homeless shelters. Here, a door is opened to all the negative aspects. A shelter is not a steppingstone to a better life; it’s more of a downward spiral,” says Mille Bianco Schiermacher.
In her 2020 report, she interviewed a 58-year-old woman who shared:
“Many stay. They don’t get better, only worse. One day you hear: ‘He or she is dead.’ You don’t get help here; you have to fend for yourself.”
A homeless shelter is only intended to house people temporarily. However, according to Mille Bianco Schiermacher, many socially vulnerable Greenlanders experience waiting years for housing. The longer they stay in a homeless shelter, the harder it becomes to leave, she explains:
“A homeless shelter is a very chaotic environment. All research on homelessness shows that the longer you stay in these environments, the more vulnerable you become. You are trained in vulnerability.”
Based on the findings of From Greenland to the Streets and her years of experience, Mille Bianco Schiermacher is now working on a Ph.D. project focused on what she calls “a flawed system.”