The murder of notorious Quran burner Salwan Momika this week has shaken Sweden to its core. But this incident only tells part of the story of the brutal violence which has become increasingly commonplace in the Scandinavian country.
Just a day before the shooting of Momika, a relative of internationally wanted drug dealer Rawa Majid â also known as âThe Kurdish Foxâ â was killed in a suburb just outside Stockholm. This swiftly followed a suspected gang murder in the small university town of Lund, where a career criminal was gunned down by a 17-year-old at a train station. Yet the statistic which most shockingly lays bare the extent of Swedenâs descent into criminality is that there were over 30 bombings across the country in January alone â more than one a day.
These would be staggering numbers for any Western democracy, and Swedish politicians are now likening the situation to âcivil warâ, albeit a lopsided war between gangs and the authorities which has spread nationally. Intelligence services estimated last year that there are around 62,000 people in Sweden (the total population is just over 10.5 million) who are active in or have direct connections to gangs, while criminal clans with roots in Turkey, Syria and Somalia now operate within the countryâs borders. Former deputy police commissioner Mats Löfving has claimed that many of these people come to Sweden with the sole intention of taking part in organised crime.
Löfvingâs candour sticks out in a debate characterised by trepidation around fanning the flames of xenophobia, imagined or real. At the heart of the matter lies the fact that a high proportion of criminals â especially the so-called âchild soldiersâ, adolescent hitmen as young as 11 recruited by gangs â are the children of immigrants.
It would seem, therefore, that integration in Sweden has actually taken a significant step backwards. While the Left searches for answers in unemployment numbers and social inequality statistics, Rights-wingers frequently insist that it is a more straightforward cultural issue. In this telling, Sweden has admitted too many immigrants from cultures which hold drastically different views on crime, gender equality and conflict management. The result is a volatile mix of youth crime, ethnic disputes, religious extremism and broader cultural decay. This has become an overwhelming, near insoluble problem for the Swedish government.
To stop the daily bombings and shootings, the Social Democratic opposition has gone so far as to propose police visitation zones across all of southern Stockholm, an initiative it opposed just over a year ago when put forward by the conservative government. Confidence in the authorities has not been helped by national police chief Petra Lundhâs admission that she doesnât work past five oâclock on weekdays and very rarely works at the weekend.
Even Swedes living in affluent neighbourhoods are scared as bombs go off without warning across the country, killing innocent victims as well as intended targets. A citizen being in âthe wrong place at the wrong timeâ has become a sardonic mantra among Swedish journalists and police representatives.
The government tightened citizenship rules last month but closing the borders remains politically contentious, despite Swedenâs governing coalition consisting of three Right-of-centre parties. As a result, ghettos outside cities such as Stockholm, Göteborg, Malmö, Ărebro and Linköping are filling up with people who never learn Swedish and live on welfare grants, in some cases, for the rest of their lives. As of December 2022, at least 100,000 of those were âundocumentedâ.
This reality, not to mention the fact that the country is host to around 800,000 illiterates thanks to mass immigration, sits in stark contrast to the public image Sweden likes to project of a highly-educated modern democracy which exports engineers and medical researchers to the rest of the world. Politicians can express their bafflement, but nothing will change until they acknowledge how their policies have created this disturbing new criminal landscape. Drastic action is now needed on mass immigration and the gang violence that inevitably comes with it. Otherwise, Sweden will continue on its current path towards perpetual chaos.
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SubscribeTo little too late. It’s the same story over and over again, whether in France, Italy, Germany, UK. In Sweden you could not talk about immigration being a challenge to the state, nor mention who caused the problem, without being deemed a racist. The results are apparent in Sweden and across Europe. Right wing movements rise and gain power because those who were in power did nothing and would not listen. How far it will tip in the opposite direction depends on WHEN all parties will come together to address the problem.
Or write an article about Sadiq – What’s a Grooming Gang? – Khan.
You are a disgrace Unherd.
It seems like parliament type democracies simply unable to cope with serious crises. They function relatively well during good times but are incapable for any decisive and necessarily painful action to stabilize the society. Too many parties, interests, voices result in paralysis. I donât see how Europe could avoid strong man rule , when the alternative is utter chaos and disintegration
Depends what you mean by “strong man”.
Just needs the electorates to vote into government parties that are determined enough to deal with immigration and its culture-destroying effects. So, that could be headed by a woman too.
If you mean authoritarianism, no thanks. Not necessary, as the US is demonstrating.
Well, the idea is that the majority of voters decide on what is best for their country and communities. In reality the majority is short sighted, inert, have very basic understanding of how governing works and easily swayed by empty rhetoric. ( not excluding myself as Iâm clueless about economics etc). Iâd try to replace common suffrage with responsible voters. People need to prove first theyâve got minimal knowledge and interest in responsible voting.
Our forebears strove to establish universal suffrage. If you go down a different route, not only would it be disrespecting their efforts but open up the question: who decides who is “responsible”? It’s a discussion that we shouldn’t be deterred from having, but the legislstion required to bring it forth would just as easily exclude groups of people you might think as being “responsible” as those you might wish to exclude; and once that pandora’s box is opened, the road to tyranny lies ahead.
In other words, be careful what you wish for. I’ve cited the recent example of the US, so your suggestion is unnecessary to effect the conditions for a return to civilised renewal in the UK.
And to further my point: it would be very easy for certain ethnic-minority communities to “prove first they’ve got minimal knowledge and interest in responsible voting”. As we’ve seen by the election of MPs who might favour sharia law, manipulating the system you suggest would be quite easy.
Might i suggest that you think through your ideas before submitting them to an online forum, since clearly, you haven’t. Nor have those who’ve upvoted your proposal/downvoted mine thought through the implications. The last thing we need is simplistic ideas being taken up as a solution to very complex situations.
You are, of course, welcome to explain why i’m incorrect in what i’ve posted…
Totally agree, LL. That is a popular idea among liberal elites, frustrated that people âdonât vote the right wayâ. Similar attitude as the EU has with unwanted referendum results!
Utter arrogance and complacency, ignoring consistent majorities in favour of certain policies like immigration control. Indeed, branding it âracistâ (seriously?).
“Might i suggest that you think through your ideas before submitting them to an online forum” – on this one I would respectfully disagree, because the only reason a public forum can be useful if it operates as a brainstorming playground ( of course, assuming it’s all done in good faith )
My point was that the parliamentary democracy with the total suffrage seems to be faltering at this point in history, and as we know what happened in the past, we might expect it will likely collapse to a “strong man” rule. I believe we could make it more stable by limiting the voting rights to anyone who knows the what “trade deficit” is and why budget won’t balance itself. ( right now one can become a Prime Minister of Canada without this knowledge) . Who would decide who’s eligible for voting and who’s not? The same way we decide who’s eligible to be a doctor, a lawyer, a teacher etc. It’s entirely non ideological
Please explain in greater detail what you seem to think is going on in the USA? Trump is doing what he elected to do by a majority of the population, and the Presidency by creation in the Constitution has less govt power than a UK Prime Minister so not sure how you think that is playing out
And those who voted for Trump/Musk will live to regret it.
What if they don’t ?
“Our forebears strove to establish universal suffrage.” Indeed but it was done in the framework of culturally homogeneous nations. When huge numbers of people who do not share the culture of said nations – especially that of universal suffrage – represent a significant fraction of their population, serious issues are being raised.
A better idea would be to remove education from the purview of the state. If you compare the work done by working class 12 year-olds in the mutualised system of the 1900s with what they produce now you’ll immediately see why.
It is not in the interests of the state to educate, only to indoctrinate.
Too late
Until 1948 University graduates at many Universities were able to vote twice. Once in their home constituency and again in their University constituency presumably on the basis that University graduates are more likely to understand the issues and vote sensibly. Not sure how many readers of Unherd believe University graduates are actually better able to chose the right policies considering the heavy left wing bias among this cohort.
an interesting bit. not entirely unreasonable for the time when the students wore tweed jackets, smoked pipes and try to behave as adults
Parliaments and democracy are at the root of these problems. But the strong man rule isn’t the only alternative. There’s also monarchy. It’s certainly the better of the two (see Africa for proof) and maybe the best of all. The 200 year long experiment with democracy has about run its course and seems destined to end in one way or another.
why Africa? the monarchies in Africa are faring better? Aren’t all African countries start with “Democratic People’s Republic of <…>”?
What exactly do you mean by “Parliament type Democracies”? Its such a vague term.
You could place the democratic systems of Britain, France & Sweden side by side and the only similarity is that they all hold at the very least elections for their respective legislatures.
I’d argue though that more codified and rigid Democratic systems like the ones we see on the Continent are less flexible and thus find it harder to respond to series crises whilst less codified systems such as the “Westminster system” of Britain and Canada are better suited because they naturally and gradually evolve their response according to the crisis before them.
At the end of the day its Burke vs Paine all over again.
I meant to distinguish between democracies with a strong presidential executive mandate ( US ) versus parliamentary types with multiparty/coalition systems. I believe the European democracies have systems which prevent executive branches from implementing any radical actions even when people’s mandate is overwhelming. That provides necessary stability during predictable times but fails when entirely new challenges arise.
“Burke vs Paine ” Can you explain in a few words?
The solution to all problems of governance in a democracy is more democracy, not less.
“While the Left searches for answers in unemployment numbers and social inequality statistics, Rights-wingers…”
To quote JD Vance “I don’t really care”.. Either way they need to go, and people need to stop accepting the ‘new normal’.
I can’t feel sorry for the Swedes. They enthusiastically supported and funded Marxist liberation movements in the 1970s and their liberated governments in the 1980s (for example, the horrendous 50-year terror of Comrade Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwe dictator and his successor, Comrade Mnangagwa).
Now that they’ve been flooded with the very people they nurtured in the heady years of ‘freedom fighting’ they are coming to understand why other people resisted their advancement ‘back home’.
You reap that you sow, as the saying goes!
Wake up Unherd. Now get someone to write a mirror article for what is going on in UK.
And make suggestions what to do about it all.
You could start with inviting Raja Miah to write about the Labour-mosque funding for votes- rape gang cover-up by police and Labour councils and BBC and inquiry scandal cover-up by Unherd poster boy Andy Burnham in Oldham and Manchester.
Does Sweden have this corruption on top of their drug gang wars or is that just peculiarly British?
Cover-Up-Unherd will write about what is going on in Sweden but not about the corruption in England.
Cover-Up-Unherd will now send their new Investigations editor to Sweden. There’s nothing to investigate in UK obviously. Pakistani rape gangs? What rape gangs? Burnham’s farce of an Inquiry? What?
Do you have a Starmer/Cottee duo over there in Sweden?
Starmer:
“This is an alarming experience everyone. But these are not bombs. Over to you Cottee.”
“Thank you Prime Minister. There are loud noises and some moving objects. Happens all the time especially on windy days. If you think differently, check your bias.”
Government is watering down border laws designed to block illegal migrants from obtaining citizenship and to force them to submit to scientific age checks.
The Home Office is repealing rules introduced by the Tories which meant that small boat arrivals could almost never become UK citizens. It is also revoking legislation which gave ministers the power to treat asylum seekers who refused to undergo scientific age checks as adults.
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said the move was a âtotal capitulation to people smugglersâ and would âmake the UK the soft touch of Europeâ.
Government sources argued the Tories had made âsuch a messâ of introducing the powers that they had never even been used since they were passed.
Home Office ministers last week published a new Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill which they say will help tackle the small boats crisis.
The small print of the legislation reveals the Government will repeal swathes of a previous Tory law, the Illegal Migration Act, which was only voted through Parliament in 2023. That act included a provision which meant that almost anyone who entered the country illegally was ineligible for settled status and ultimately citizenship.
It also featured another clause which stated that asylum seekers could be treated as over 18 if they refused to take a scientific age assessment.
Mr Philp said: âIt will lead to dangerous young men being placed with teenage girls and makes the UK the soft touch of Europe. Starmer is a weak Prime Minister. He is weak on borders and is weak when it comes to protecting our borders, our children and our people. I will fight tooth and nail against this craven capitulation to illegal immigrants and people smugglers when the Bill comes to Parliament.â
Children are much more likely to be granted refugee status, and there are fears smugglers are actively advising migrants to claim they are minors.
In the first half of last year more than 1,300 illegal migrants were caught pretending to be minors after their cases were flagged by officials.
Official figures show that in the year up to last September three quarters of unaccompanied minors were granted asylum, compared to half of adults.
Those arrivals who are classified as under-18s are also given school places and housed by local councils rather than sent to migrant hotels.
Currently small boat arrivals undergo an initial assessment by two Home Office staff who judge their âphysical appearance and demeanourâ.
To classify someone who is claiming to be a child as an adult it must âvery strongly suggest they are significantly over 18 years of ageâ. All other major European countries, including France and Germany, use medical tests to help determine the ages of younger asylum seekers. They include conducting X-rays of hand and wrist bones and molar teeth, as well as MRI scans of knee bones and collar bones.
Powers to conduct such assessments
in the UK were voted through in the 2022 Nationality and Borders Act, but they are yet to be put into practice.
That legislation said that officials must treat a migrantâs refusal to submit to such tests as âdamagingâ to the credibility of their claim to be a child.
In the 2023 Illegal Migration Act then Tory ministers gave themselves power to go further and say that in the event of refusal they were to be treated as an adult. Labour has said it will retain the weaker powers from 2022 and that it reserves the right to legislate to introduce stronger sanctions if necessary.
A Government source dismissed criticisms that it was going soft on border controls, saying the Tories had âfailedâ to control illegal immigration.
âLabour will continue to use age assessment and wonât hesitate to go further in legislation if needed,â they said.
The ban on citizenship had been criticised for leaving asylum seekers in limbo, meaning that their claims could not be considered.
Suella Braverman, the former home secretary who introduced the Illegal Migration Act, accused Labour of âdecriminalising illegal migrationâ.
She said the Border Security Bill âremoves all the security and provisions we had put into place to keep the UK safe and is a disgraceâ.
A Home Office spokesman said: âThe Bill introduces workable measures to strengthen cross-system, operational efforts to tighten border security, enhance upstream work with international partners and help ensure a properly functioning, secure immigration system.
âThe Illegal Migration Act has largely not been commenced (including this measure on age assessments); nor will it be under this governmentâs policy which focuses on delivering long-term, credible policies that restore order to the asylum system.â
In Germany my daughter had an immigrant in her 7th grade class that got his permission to stay in Europe and a week later was out of school and driving a taxi as an adult.
What is needed is for ordinary Swedish Swedes to arm themselves with machetes and simply hack the Muslim invaders to death. This is a war to the death.
Slightly surprised that this rather inflammatory suggestion has not attracted censorship. Perhaps Unherd have no Swedish readers who might be inspired to take up their machetes against the invaders.
âDrastic action is now needed on mass immigration and the gang violence that inevitably comes with it. Otherwise, Sweden will continue on its current path towards perpetual chaos.â
Yes, itâs called decolonisation. And if not that, partition.
Are you being sarcastic? Sweden’s record in colonization is about the same Luxemburg’s
The Swedish empire included several countries, and they nearly conquered Russia in the 1770s
and that’s why we have Russian gangs bombing each other on the streets of Malmo.. No, seriously, colonization is understood as overseas non-European possessions.
âDecolonizationâ is a violent political philosophy which has b****r all to do with historical colonial conquests.
Could a Swedish Trump bring “common sense” to Swedish immigration?
Or are Swedes too weak to defend their culture.
Seems like the latterâŠ
A citizen being in âthe wrong place at the wrong timeâ has become a sardonic mantra among Swedish journalists and police representatives.
Blaming the victim.
All the deliriums of the world have washed up on the shores of Sweden.
Confidence in the authorities has not been helped by national police chief Petra Lundhâs admission that she doesnât work past five oâclock on weekdays and very rarely works at the weekend.
A reverse ABBA. The Swedes adopting Sheena Easton’s “Working nine to five, what a way to make a living.”
Ah, being a ‘Moral Super Power’ is not all it’s cracked up to be it right!?
Quick someone needs to tell Starmer & Co the news.
People pointed out years ago that this would happen. But they would not listen.
In The Republic, by Plato, political systems are discussed, & I believe that democracy is described as having an inherent tendency towards tyranny, through a mechanism in which leaders compete for votes by giving gullible voters handouts as bribes for their support. In this way, the short term self interest of foolish individuals en masse leads to democracy’s replacement by tyranny.
Mass immigration is destroying Western nations.