Immigrants: Pressure tames Swedish pride

(Baonghean) - Currently, many Swedes still maintain a skeptical attitude. Some Rinkeby residents believe that the government has not done enough to solve the problems arising from the large number of immigrants.

At first glance, Rinkeby looks like many other places in Sweden: because of the moderately tall buildings with elegant paint colors, the airy square, the rows of trees running along the streets...

And on closer inspection, one will see Arabic signs in windows, hear conversations in Kurdish and see many faces of Somali descent. Yet Rinkeby remains a place of many inadequacies.

Riots broke out in a Stockholm suburb earlier this week. Photo: CNN.

After Donald Trump said on February 20 that something was wrong in Sweden - a country long known for its welcoming policies towards migrants and refugees - the US President's comments were met with mixed opinions, even ridicule.

But when riots broke out in Rinkeby just days later, not far from central Stockholm, a local resident whose parents immigrated to Sweden from Greece said, “Everything Trump said is right,” and said that immigration to Sweden was out of control, with so many people coming and limited space, not to mention that migrants were “free” to do whatever they wanted. However, the majority still believed that Sweden’s immigration policy was a source of pride.

Newcomers

What Trump certainly got right about Sweden and migrants was his claim at an event in Florida last weekend that the country has taken in large numbers of migrants. Statistically, Sweden has a higher per capita migration rate than any other European country.

At the height of Europe’s migrant crisis in 2015, more than 160,000 people arrived in Sweden seeking asylum—a staggering number for a country of less than 10 million people. “If the US wanted to match that, it would have to take in 6-7 million migrants,” says Magnus Ranstorp, a counterterrorism expert at the Swedish National Defense University.

With so many newcomers, it is perhaps no surprise that problems have arisen. Integration, and the lack of it, has become a real concern, especially in major cities like Stockholm, Malmö and Gothenburg. Returning to Gothenburg after 10 years away, half-Swedish and half-Bolivian citizen Josefin Larsson commented on the gap between past and present.

When her mother’s family moved here 20 years ago, they found it easy to integrate into the community. The government spent time helping them learn the language, find jobs, and learn about the culture. There were even programs in place to make them feel welcome in their new land.

“Things are different now, in the cities there are almost no Swedes anymore. Instead there are people from different countries, there are a lot of beggars on the streets, and the government cannot take care of everyone,” Larsson said.

In an effort to promote ties between Swedes and immigrants, community groups and organisations in a number of Swedish towns and cities are taking a keen interest in these issues.

Kompis Sverige is one such service, introducing “new Swedes” to long-time residents, in order to build friendships and prevent xenophobia.

Or the organization Invitationsdepartementet aims to connect Swedish-speaking people and new immigrants who want to improve their language skills, eat home-cooked meals together, come closer together, and use warm hearts to push back xenophobia and boycotts.

Newly arrived migrants disembark from a ship near Malmo, Sweden, during the height of the European migration crisis in 2015. Photo: CNN.

Integration or skepticism?

Many Swedes remain skeptical. Some Rinkeby residents believe that the government is not doing enough to address the problems caused by the large number of immigrants. Some even suspect that instead of taking action, the government is ignoring them, and as a result things will get further out of control.

Larsson also shared that although people think Sweden is a safe place, gang violence and security threats make her feel uneasy every time she goes out. This worry is not without basis, if you look at the attacks caused by suspected migrants. For example, in January 2016, a 22-year-old woman was murdered at the asylum center where she worked, putting pressure on the government to limit immigration.

But the police deny any link between immigration and crime in low-income areas like Rinkeby. “I don’t deny that there are integration problems,” says Varg Gyllander, of the Stockholm Police Department. “It’s not right to equate immigration, crime and terrorism, because they are not closely linked, the reality is much more complicated.”

Volunteers hand out food and water to migrants arriving at Malmo station in September 2015. Photo: CNN.

The rise of the far right

Many Swedish law enforcement experts say the country is struggling with anti-immigrant extremists. “One of our biggest problems is right-wing extremism,” says Ranstorp. “There have been far-right groups that have buried explosives right next to refugee centers.”

Swedish officials and leaders have publicly criticized the US President for claiming that the country is “facing problems it never thought it would.” Even Swedish Prime Minister Stevan Löfven has weighed in, saying that everyone has a responsibility to be accurate and to verify any information they intend to disseminate.

Yet, in some political circles here, there is still a response to Mr. Trump’s comments. Many members of the far right are grateful that President Trump dared to “point out the problem frankly.” For them, Sweden is in trouble, or worse, facing a crisis with serious problems related to law and order. This faction believes that if the borders are not strictly controlled, if the immigration issue is handled irresponsibly, the consequences will obviously be inevitable.

And so, Mr. Trump's "gaffe" is not entirely meaningless, and perhaps the country that has always prided itself on having the most open immigration policy on the old continent will have to consider coming up with the most reasonable solution to ease the signs of escalating tension.

Thu Giang

(According to CNN)