SWEDEN’S FAILED INTEGRATION CREATES ‘PARALLEL SOCIETIES’. SAYS PM AFTER RIOTS
0Sweden’s failed integration creates ‘parallel societies’. says PM after riots
Magdalena Andersson says both Islamism and rightwing extremism have been allowed to fester Sweden’s prime minister has said the Scandinavian country has failed to integrate many of the immigrants who have settled there over the past 20 years. creating a nation of “parallel societies … living in different realities”. Unveiling a series of measures to tackle organised crime after violent riots over the Easter weekend that left more than 100 police injured. Magdalena Andersson said Islamism and rightwing extremism had been allowed to fester in Sweden. “Segregation has been allowed to go so far that we have parallel societies in Sweden.” the Social Democrat prime minister told a news conference. “We live in the same country but in completely different realities. We will have to reassess our previous truths and make tough decisions.” Integration had been “too poor. at the same time as we have experienced very substantial levels of immigration”. Andersson added. “Society has been too weak. resources for the police and social services have been too weak.” The number of people living in Sweden who were born abroad has doubled over the past 20 years to about 2 million. or one fifth of the population. Andersson said it was “crucial to prevent more children and young people from being drawn into crime”. She said she aimed to introduce local “youth delinquency boards”. in which social services and police would collaborate closely. in addition to putting in place tools to ensure young people stayed in school and off the streets. The justice and home affairs minister. Morgan Johansson. outlined plans to give the police greater electronic surveillance powers. facilitate the exchange of information between authorities. and deny residence even to people not yet convicted of a crime. “What we saw were no political protests.” Andersson said of the riots. “Police were attacked with stones and molotov cocktails. It was not a political act. it was a criminal act – an attack on the democracy that many have actually fled to.” The riots erupted after a notorious anti immigrant provocateur. the Danish Swedish politician Rasmus Paludan. threatened to tour the country burning the Qur’an. Police clashed with groups of mostly masked young men in several towns and cities. Police insisted they had to grant permits for Paludan’s incendiary events. planned mainly in areas with large Muslim populations. because of the country’s liberal freedom of speech laws. but Johansson said those freedoms were being abused by “extremists” to foster “hate. division and violence”. Dozens of people were arrested after three days of rioting in Norrköping. Linköping. Landskrona. Örebro. Malmö and the capital. Stockholm. A school was also set alight and 20 police vehicles either damaged or destroyed. Sweden has radically tightened its immigration policies since taking in more people per capita than any other EU country during the migration crisis of 2015. and now has one of the bloc’s most restrictive policies along with neighbouring Denmark. … we have a small favour to ask. Tens of millions have placed their trust in the Guardian’s fearless journalism since we started publishing 200 years ago. turning to us in moments of crisis. uncertainty. solidarity and hope. More than 1.5 million supporters. from 180 countries. now power us financially – keeping us open to all. and fiercely independent. Unlike many others. the Guardian has no shareholders and no billionaire owner. Just the determination and passion to deliver high impact global reporting. always free from commercial or political influence. Reporting like this is vital for democracy. for fairness and to demand better from the powerful. And we provide all this for free. for everyone to read. We do this because we believe in information equality. Greater numbers of people can keep track of the global events shaping our world. understand their impact on people...
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