I remember only
a few years ago debating with leftist leaning people who lauded the generous
immigration policies of the Swedish government. They were elated to see how
Sweden responded with open arms and generosity to the so-called “migrant crisis”
caused by various wars and disasters in the Middle East and North Africa. I remember debating
with these people about how devastating bringing in so many people from such diverse
backgrounds would affect Sweden. They were confident that Sweden would
assimilate the new comers and make them Swedes in short order – "most migrants are just happy to be in a better country mate, don’t you know
that? They'll assimilate out of thankfulness." These were the inane sorts of things these people said.
Well, here
is the result,
“Sweden’s prime minister announced that he will hold talks
with the head of the Swedish armed forces and the police commissioner to
discuss ways to stem gang violence following a wave of attacks that have
resulted in at least 11 people killed so far this month.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said that he would meet with
the armed forces’ supreme commander and the national police commissioner on
Friday to explore “how the armed forces can help police in their work against
the criminal gangs”.
“Sweden has never before seen anything like this,”
Kristersson said on Thursday in a rare televised address to the nation.
“No other country in Europe is seeing anything like this,” he
said.”[i]
No other
country in Europe brought in so many people in comparison to their population. But other countries are not free of these sorts of issues. However, Sweden is a tiny country and so the effects are magnified.
“The police estimate that about 30,000 people in Sweden are
directly involved with or have ties to gang crime. The violence has also spread
from major urban areas to smaller towns where violent crime was previously rare.
“The criminal conflicts in Sweden are a serious threat to the
safety and security of the country,” National Police Commissioner Anders
Thornberg said in a statement.
More than 60 people died in shootings last year in Sweden,
the highest figure on record. This year is on track to be the same or worse.
Swedish media have linked the latest surge in violence to a feud between rival
factions of a criminal gang known as the Foxtrot network.”[ii]
No country
is without crime, but Sweden had a reputation for being one of the most
prosperous and peaceful places to live in the world and now it has an
escalating gang problem. It was peaceful, quaint and as close to paradise on earth that you could get, then it decided to open its borders to people from
countries where gang violence is an every day experience, where people do not live like Swedes. It did not take a rocket
scientist to see this situation coming.
“The opposition says the government has made the country less
safe while Kristersson put the blame on “irresponsible migration policies and
failed integration” under the previous government.
Sweden long stood out in Europe along with Germany for having
liberal immigration policies and welcoming hundreds of thousands of
asylum-seekers from the Middle East and Africa.
Sweden has since sharply restricted migration levels, citing
rising crime levels and other social problems.”[iii]
It is pretty abominable for the previous government who let all of these people in to then turn around and try to pin it on the current government. But that is how political games work, meanwhile real people suffer.
Mass migration has
been one of the biggest causes of social unrest in societies throughout
history. From influxes of refugees into ancient Egypt, to Rome, to the waves of migration of Germans and
others into northern and southern Europe, to the waves of migrants into the new world and more, mass migration has always brought clashes
of cultures and war. Just because we live in 2023 does not mean that human
nature has changed. Immigrants bring who they are with them, and if building
gangs and dealing in violence is a part of the culture they are running from,
there is a good bet they will bring that with them, especiallyif they come in large numbers. Sweden is experiencing this
and so are many other places around the world.
List of
references
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