Lindholm Solution

Around three weeks ago, I essayed a piece on this Danish idea of sending off 'problem-migrants' to a island (Lindholm).....which lays out on the SE of the country.....maybe a mile from the actual coast.  My general take was that this would be discussed, voted upon, and fail....mostly because of the notion that it'd be called a prison-island.

Well....this past week....the Danish Parliament voted.  The idea passed with 54 votes in favor, and 23 against (with 29 abstaining).  It would have failed....if the 29 folks had simply voted 'against', but they actually sent a message....they'd just stay out of the vote instead.

What happens now?  The talk is that it'll take two years to build the 'housing' required and to develop the rules for being 'sent-off'.

The general Danish chatter here is that if you are a migrant in the country and demonstrate some criminal behavior (robberies, drugs, etc), then they'd ask you to return to your home country.  If you failed on that....then you'd go to Lindholm....staying there until you changed your mind.

Size of Lindholm?  It's about 200 ft by 600 ft.  So if you were walking on the sandy beach, you could walk the island in about 25 minutes.  The island was used for a number of years by farm research folks....so there's around ten buildings on the island.  You could approach the isle by boat, taking about five minutes in a boat to reach the pier.

An Alcatraz-like situation? Well....no.  Let's be honest, if you were a decent swimmer, you could take to the water and escape.  A good swimmer could probably make the 6,000 ft swim in less than an hour. 

I think the big deal to this is simply the threat.  Some judge would tell some migrant of the threat of going to Lindholm, and maybe the guy would realize the terrible woes of being island-bound.  Face it....I doubt if they will give you access to the internet, or TV.  You probably will get three meals a day....all the water you desire, and occasionally some pack of smokes.  After three months of island life....you will be ready to go back to your homeland.