Swedes get their backs up over migrant influx
STOCKHOLM: A series of attacks in Sweden on beggars, many Roma, has highlighted a dark side to a country considered a bastion of tolerance but where the far right has been gaining support by claiming society is under threat from waves of immigrants.
An influx of thousands of mainly Roma migrants has shocked affluent Swedes, with beggars now a common sight outside supermarkets and subways in the capital.
Since most come from Romania and Bulgaria, they are free to travel to Sweden as EU citizens, but their presence has fuelled claims by the Sweden Democrats that the country is a soft-touch for migrants and is being swamped.
“The first attack was in November or December last year. That was gunshots,” said Vasile, a 38-year-old from Romania who makes a living doing black market jobs in areas like construction around Stockholm.
Vasile, who lives in his car with his wife, said he had been attacked several times. “My wife is very scared,” he said.
Sweden takes in more asylum seekers per capita than any other nation in Europe.
Around 81 000 sought asylum here last year – second only to Germany.
But while asylum seekers mainly come from countries like Syria, Afghanistan and Eritrea and get government benefits, many Roma migrants try to earn a living and save money to take home by begging or collecting bottles.
They often stay for a short period and sometimes return to Sweden after visits to their home countries.
The government reckons about 5 000 migrants, some of whom also come from Hungary, are in Sweden begging.
Many live on the street or in squalid camps. In recent months, attackers have thrown acid at beggars and burnt their tents and caravans.
In a woodland, 15 minutes’ walk from Hogdalen subway station on the outskirts of Stockholm, about 70 Roma migrants have set up tents and rudimentary shacks of sheets of plastic, corrugated metal and other scrap.
There is no electricity. They only have bonfires to cook on and buckets for washing.
“You have nothing to lose,” said Marius Gaspar, at charity Stockholms Stadsmission, which organises housing for migrants in the capital city.
“It is better to be here as a homeless person than to go back home.”
Average wages in Sweden are about € 2 800 (R42 763) a month, according to Eurostat. In Romania, where they also face discrimination, the figure is less than a quarter of that.
Europe’s 6 million Roma are the region’s biggest ethnic minority. They have been persecuted for most of their history.
Many migrants in Sweden say they want to work, but the lack of education and language skills make it impossible for most, leaving begging as the only alternative.
This month, the Sweden Democrats started a subway advertising campaign in the heart of Stockholm, apologising to tourists for the “mess” created by beggars. “Our government won’t do what’s needed. But we will and we’re growing at record speed,” the banner advert read.
Protesters later stormed the metro station, tearing down the posters they said were xenophobic.
“They want chaos, they want Sweden to be polarised, to sort people into us and them,” said Sven Hovmoller, the vicechairman of HEM, a voluntary organisation that supports migrants.
There were about 300 reported attacks on Roma last year, up 23 percent on the year before, according to the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention. Police say the figures underestimate the scale of the problem.
Further underlining the tension in Sweden over immigration, police stepped up security measures around asylum seeker hostels this month after a knife attack in an IKEA store that left two dead. The suspect is an asylum seeker.
The Sweden Democrats reject claims they are pouring fuel on the fire. Spokesman Henrik Vinge said the ad campaign only said there were criminal gangs that exploited beggars. “We have not in any context or any way tried to vil- ify anyone,” Vinge said.
The party, which wants to cut the number of asylum seekers by 90 percent, more than doubled its vote at last year’s election to about 13 percent.
One opinion poll in this month showed the party is now Sweden’s most popular, backed by 25 percent of voters.
Martin Valfridsson, Sweden’s national co-ordinator for vulnerable migrants, said the country, which spent about 1.4 percent of its budget on asylum policies last year, remained tolerant but that many Swedes were frustrated by seeing beggars.
The government is looking at making it easier to evict peo- ple from illegal settlements and tightening rules on human trafficking. It has also stepped up contacts with Romania, Bulgaria and the EU to deal with the problem.
“The solution must be in their home countries,” Valfridsson said.
In the short term, there is little the government can do. EU rules ensuring free movement mean the country cannot turn migrants away at the border while evictions only move the problem to another location.
Anne Britt Djuve, co-author of a report on Romanian migrants in Scandinavia, said they were extremely resilient to harassment. – Reuters