Sweden's prime minister, Magdalena Andersson, has acknowledged that the country has failed to integrate many immigrants over the past two decades, resulting in the creation of 'parallel societies' where citizens live in different realities. Speaking after violent Easter weekend riots that left over 100 police officers injured, Andersson said both Islamism and right-wing extremism had been allowed to fester.
Andersson, a Social Democrat, told a news conference that segregation had been allowed to go so far that parallel societies now exist within Sweden. 'We live in the same country but in completely different realities,' she said, adding that the country must reassess previous truths and make tough decisions. She attributed the problem to poor integration alongside substantial immigration levels, and a society that had been too weak, with insufficient resources for police and social services.
The number of foreign-born residents in Sweden has doubled over the past 20 years to about 2 million, or one-fifth of the population. Andersson emphasised the need to prevent more children and young people from being drawn into crime, proposing local 'youth delinquency boards' where social services and police would collaborate closely, along with measures to keep young people in school.
Justice and home affairs minister Morgan Johansson outlined plans to grant police greater electronic surveillance powers, facilitate information exchange between authorities, and deny residence even to those not yet convicted of a crime. The riots erupted after anti-immigrant provocateur Rasmus Paludan threatened to burn the Qur'an during a tour of Sweden. Police clashed with mostly masked young men in several towns and cities. Johansson said freedom of speech laws were being abused by extremists to foster hate, division and violence.
Three days of rioting in Norrköping, Linköping, Landskrona, Örebro, Malmö and Stockholm led to dozens of arrests, a school being set alight, and 20 police vehicles damaged or destroyed. Sweden has since radically tightened its immigration policies, now among the most restrictive in the EU, after taking in more migrants per capita than any other member state during the 2015 migration crisis.
