Students with mixed nationalities subjected to racism in Danish school – now the principal apologizes

Students at Rejsby Europæiske Efterskole in Denmark have been subjected to racist jokes from fellow students regarding their nationality. In an interview with TV2, Jamilla Westen, whose biological father comes from Lebanon, explains that she and her friend Luna, whose father is from Thailand have had to listen to terrorist jokes and jokes about how they eat dogs in Thailand.

And the two students are not alone in their criticism of the school’s culture. Several former students have written on Instagram about their experiences with racism at the school which is located in Southern Jutland.

Following the criticism, Rejsby Europæiske Efterskole has responded to the accusations and posted a statement on Instagram, where they regret that students at the school have experienced racism.

According to Jamilla Westen, she and her friend Luna tried to inform their contact teacher about the racist comments, but without success. And when the two girls subsequently went to the management because the racism from the students continued, they did not have a feeling that action was being taken on the problem.

“Nothing happened, and it continued throughout the school year, even though we kept going telling the teachers and management what happened,” Jamilla Westen says.

Karsten Friis is the principal at the school and he is sad about the experience that Jamilla Westen and Luna are left with.

“One can only regret that some have had that experience. No one should be exposed to that, he says to TV2. 

However, the principal cannot fully recognize Jamilla Westen and Luna’s side of the story and says that a lot of work was done to improve the situation.