A refugee carries carpets before praying as he prepares the gym of the Sweden’s largest temporary camp for asylum seekers at the former psychiatric hospital Restad Gard on February 12, 2016 in Vanersborg, Sweden / Getty
Swedish political/cultural elite do not want to address the problems that they themselves created, doing so would mean holding up a mirror to themselves, and they won’t do it willingly.
Staffan Danielsson, who’s a Member of Parliament for the Swedish Centre Party, doesn’t agree with Johansson and demands transparency. He wants to know how much more common it is for foreign-born people to commit crimes, even if his own party would not be interested in these facts. “There were reports in 1996 and 2005. Now it has taken eleven years and we have a migration flow which is on a completely different level,” he stated.
SWEDISH GOVERNMENT OBSTRUCTS STUDYING RELATION BETWEEN IMMIGRANTS AND CRIME
By David Frankenhuis
An attempt by the Sweden Democrats (SD) to shed more light on the relation between crime and criminals’ countries of origin, has been blocked by the government.
Justice Minister Morgan Johansson of the Swedish Social Democratic Party, declared he didn’t feel like discussing the topic. In a debate on national TV last Sunday evening Johansson stated that he does not believe a new report on recorded crime and individuals’ origins “would add knowledge with the potential to improve Swedish society,” writes SVT.se.
The last time this politically sensitive issue was surveyed, was back in 2005. It concluded that, compared to natives, foreign borns were twice as likely to be suspected of a crime. People from Gambia and Ghana, were five times more likely to have a run-in with the law.
According to the daily Expressen, SD wanted to discuss the topic after an investigation by the National Crime Survey showing that Swedish women are experiencing greater insecurity.
Johansson claims that the image of crime created by the SD is not accurate. The government does not plan on such an investigation “as the worst rapist we had in Sweden since many years, Niklas Lindgren, the so-called Haga man”, replied the Minister, mentioning a number of other Scandinavian born criminals and terrorists, were all natives.
“With violent crime it is the same. (…) And the terrorist Breivik, for example. (…) That is where they have their blind spot. They want to create an image of crime being committed by foreign nationals only. But that is not true,” says Morgan Johansson.
Staffan Danielsson, who’s a Member of Parliament for the Swedish Centre Party, doesn’t agree with Johansson and demands transparency. He wants to know how much more common it is for foreign-born people to commit crimes, even if his own party would not be interested in these facts. “There were reports in 1996 and 2005. Now it has taken eleven years and we have a migration flow which is on a completely different level,” he stated.
Furthermore, Danielsson said that it would be “counterproductive” to obscure the facts from the general public. “People believe that Swedes almost never commit crimes, that only foreign-born persons do. Well, it’s not the case. Facts rule, facts are needed. It’s the only thing I’m after,” he said.
