As violence escalates, police and politicians say Sweden is at a crisis point in part because of migration, according to The Daily Mail.
Last year, three people were killed in a single night in separate attacks across Sweden. The first victim was an 18-year-old man who was shot dead in a Stockholm suburb on 27 September. Just a few hours later, one man was killed and another was wounded in a shooting in Jordbro, south of the city.
In a series of interviews, Swedish academics, a politician, and a senior police officer spoke to MailOnline about the multi-faceted crisis. They described a country at a crisis point that was ill-prepared to deal with this scale of violence.
Jale Poljarevius, a senior police officer and chief of intelligence for Sweden’s Mitt region, described the “deadly violence” as “very serious.”
That was a bad period in Sweden – September to October last year. Today it’s a little bit better, but it’s very insecure still because it can turn on and start with a new wave of violence at any time. Sometimes we make arrests of gang members and when they are put away, a vacuum opens, and then new gang members try to take over.
Black September in Sweden
Deadly violence linked to gang warfare has increased in recent years amid high levels of migration into the country. Meanwhile, Sweden’s non-Western population has grown from 2 per cent to 15 per cent in just 20 years.
Foreign mafia groups call the country a “haven” for their activities. Moreover, organised crime groups have infiltrated the business sector and found ways to smuggle military weapons into the country. In response, Swedish police have been given new powers, such as the ability to declare “visitation” or “safe zones.” Officers there have more temporary powers there to increase their presence, as well as to search people, homes and vehicles.
However, many, including in the government, have gone so far as to call for the complete closure of Sweden’s borders to asylum seekers. In September 2023, more than 40 episodes of violence and 12 deaths were recorded in just 20 days, making it nicknamed “Black September.”
Several factors contribute to the violence, experts say: wars over spheres of influence between gangs, a growing drug market, an influx of weapons into the market, growing inequality, high levels of immigration, and the failed integration of migrants into society.
However, gang activity in Sweden is not limited to street violence and drugs. Organised crime has also gained a foothold in the country, with many gangs also involved in fraud.
Measures against gangs
Just this week alone, there have been several shocking incidents. On Tuesday, a Swedish rapper, who last month was named the country’s hip-hop artist of the year, was killed in a gang-related shooting in Gothenburg.
Masked rapper C.Gambino (Karar Ramadan), 26, was the victim of a shooting in a car park Tuesday night, police reported. The killing “is linked to a gang conflict,” a police spokeswoman added
Swedish newspapers regularly run front-page stories about gang attacks, and political parties that promise a tough response are growing in popularity. Sweden Democrats is one such party. It is now part of the ruling conservative coalition government.
Ending the use of guns at the border, as well as fighting drugs and fraud, is just one of several solutions experts have suggested that could help tackle gang violence.
Another option is to tackle gang recruitment and fund schemes that help teenagers and young adults get away from gangs and a life of crime. The police report that gangs are increasingly recruiting vulnerable young people into a life of crime from care homes known as Hem for vård eller boende, or HVB.
You have to socialise young people early [so they understand] how dangerous it is to be a criminal: What could happen? How many of these guys end up in jail?
