Sweden is no longer a haven for Iraq's refugees; Thousands face deportation as backlash brews

[Robbien]

Source: Houston Chronicle Middle East Bureau

SUNDSVALL, SWEDEN — The six Iraqis huddled in a small living room drinking sugary tea each paid people-traffickers more than $10,000 to bring them to this city in central Sweden.

. . .

These six survivors left torrid, terrifying Iraq for the placid pine forests and lakes of Scandinavia. They chose Sweden because it has been the most sympathetic of any non-Arab nation to their plight. But that open-arms attitude has changed, and a backlash has developed against the immigrants.

The Swedish Migration Board ruled this summer that the situation in Iraq does not constitute an armed conflict, clearing the way for possible deportation of thousands of Iraqis, including the small group here. "The conclusion of the board is that we have to decide each case individually, and we cannot say the situation in Iraq is such that everyone from Iraq can stay in Sweden," said Marie Andersson, a spokesman for the Swedish Migration Board.

The decision, based on three court rulings, is expected to halt the influx of Iraqis that has quickened during the past year. The refugees have also turned up in Germany, Norway, Denmark and other European countries, but Sweden has drawn the most because of its welcoming attitude, receiving three times more than any other country.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5157321.html

[Mythsaje]

1. Not an armed conflict?

What are THEY smoking?

[Waya]

11. Was wondering the same thing......

:wtf:

[silverojo]

2. I'm surprised this hasn't happened sooner

Sweden's starting to have a big problem with fundie Christian kooks trying to take over Sweden (yes, even socialist Sweden isn't safe from their ilk). Those people are probably the source of the backlash, because...well...you know how fundies view anyone of a different religion....

[Robbien]

3. The article says yes that is the reason. There is a new anti-immigration party

who appear to me to be the same as our fundie christians.

[rodeodance]

17. It is easy to understand the Iraqis' enthusiasm for the Swedish system,

It is easy to understand the Iraqis' enthusiasm for the Swedish system, which provides a bonanza of social services to refugees. Even as they wait for a decision on their asylum applications, they receive benefits, including the free use of their modest, clean apartment built by the government in a former hospital for the mentally ill. They can see doctors, receive Swedish language training and visit the cultural center, which stocks books in Arabic.

They can even shop at a grocery that sells Middle Eastern food and the Halal meat and poultry needed to satisfy Islamic dietary requirements.

Like most of the refugees who could afford to pay smugglers to bring them to Europe, the men were not poor in Iraq. They owned property and held good jobs before the war began.

[midlife_mo_Jo]

24. You mean like the "fundie" folks in The Netherlands?

In fact, many of the most liberal folks in the Netherlands fear their rights being curtailed due to the "fundy" muslims. It 's a bit more complicated than what you imply.

[mogster]

4. Not only Sweden

The whole of Scandinavia is in the focus of unsavory forces, from within and from the outside. Nationalism and racism are on the rise. This anti-immigration campaign originates and are being propagated by, and you may not be surprised by hearing this, the mass media. Systematic suppression of anti-racist voices and systematic promoting of Le Pen-type politicians in papers and on TV turns the whole spectrum around, and are combined with attacks on labour unions and alternative groups holding 'leftist' views.
People from rightwing parties get easy access to major paper frontpages and TV today that would never have been given air time in the 90's.

But the problem isn't the right, which more or less reacts as you would expect, all things considered. The problem lies on the left, not even seeing and understanding what happens, but still operating within the 'old' order as far as politics go. Constantly two steps behind and out of touch, they slowly drift over to the right and adopts their rethoric and agenda instead of taking a stand. Pathetic.
We could do with a little of what you got in the US today; a center/left that has actually discovered the internet button, and understands that the new medium opens for an alternative news channel.

[Skittles]

5. very disappointing to hear

I don't very often hear negative things about Scandinavia

[mogster]

7. The 2005 7/7 terror attacks had a major influence on Scandinavia

Or at least Norway, AFAIK. The turnaround is carried over by fundie Christians, the main group being the sect Livets Ord (Word of Life), which is a Swedish group with chapters in Norway. But they wouldn't get anywhere without the main press giving their extremism focus and attention. One example is the publishing of the Muhammed cartoons, in which the Livets Ord pastor Selbekk was framed as 'the liberal Christian editor fighting for freedom of speech' while in reality, he's the only Norwegian who has been calling for the old law about blasphemy to be used against free speech. He's also close to Fred Phelps, and spent most of his time prior to January 2006 battling gays and other minority groups. He's affiliated with the Progress party, and the publishing of the cartoons brought them from 23% up to 34% in the polls.
How come the supposed liberal Norwegian press supports a guy like that?

[Skittles]

12. WTF!!!!!!!!!

FRED PHELPS!!! That there says it all!!! Whatever is happening to my beloved Norway (my kinship is my grandparents - they were from Trondheim and would speak Norwegian when they didn't want us to know what they were saying :o)

By the way, my brother Mark worked at Piccadilly Circus and just missed the King's Crossing bombing - it is a small world.

[mogster]

15. Small world indeed

Glad to hear you've got kindship with the 'Trønders', though :-) They ever was the Norw. grassroots, lol.

[LeftishBrit]

6. It's at least as much a problem in other parts of Europe

And in the countries about which I know the most, it's a very longstanding problem. The nationalities of the immigrants change, but the bigotry against them doesn't very much. Especially if they're of a different colour, or otherwise visibly 'different'.

At least in the UK, the problem is aggravated by tabloid newspapers that have a long tradition of pandering to, and whipping up, prejudice and bigotry. We don't have a significant tradition of right-wing talkshows like the USA, but we do have the 'Daily (Hate)-Mail'; 'Daily Express' and 'Sun'.

[mogster]

8. I agree

We are inheriting much of the same press 'ideology', and one of the main news earlier this year was that David Montgomery and Mecom group had bought the Norw. media company Orkla media, giving them a 'bridgehead' in local news all over Norway, as Orkla was one of the largest owner of local papers.

[starroute]

23. The right-wing Fellowship Foundation has strong Norwegian connections

This is from a Wayne Madsen account -- but one that seems solid as far as I can tell and without any of the occasional flights of fancy that discredit too much of what he writes. From anything I've seen, the Fellowship Foundation seems far more rooted in Norway than in Sweden -- but Sweden clearly isn't exempt from similar influences.

http://www.rinf.com/columnists/news/expose-the-christian-mafia-parts-1-2

The roots of the Fellowship go back to the 1930s and a Norwegian immigrant and Methodist minister named Abraham Vereide. According to Fellowship archives maintained at the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College in Illinois, Vereide, who immigrated from Norway in 1905, began an outreach ministry in Seattle in April 1935. But his religious outreach involved nothing more than pushing for an anti-Communist, anti-union, anti-Socialist, and pro-Nazi German political agenda. . . .

After the war, Vereide moved to consolidate right-wing groups in Europe. His hated Communists and Socialists had taken over governments across Eastern Europe and were on the verge of achieving power in Western Europe. Winston Churchill had been swept from power by a very leftist-oriented Labor government headed by Clement Atlee. For the remnants of the Nazi movement in America, an “SOS” was being transmitted from Europe for assistance. Vereide traveled to Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, France and Germany. . . .

The Fellowship’s influence in Vereide’s native country of Norway was revealed in late 2004 when the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet exposed Norway’s Lutheran minister and Christian Democratic Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik as a secret member of the Fellowship. Although Bondevik at first downplayed his role in the Fellowship, Bondevik later was forced to admit that in December 2001 he met at a dinner at the Cedars with then-Attorney General Ashcroft and that the meeting involved his official role as Prime Minister. Apparently, Bondevik and Ashcroft discussed the U.S. military tribunals. Ashcroft referred to Bondevik as his “brother in Christ” and he serenaded Bondevik Norwegian folk songs after dinner. Bondevik had previously argued that his involvement with the Fellowship was a personal matter. In addition, it was revealed that Norway’s ambassador to the United States, Knut Vollebuk, was a frequent visitor to the Cedars as were a number of members of Norway’s Christian Democratic Party.

[Rottenmac]

9. I should look for the link...

But its Oktoberfest, and I need to get outside. There is a woman from (Sudan? Somalia?) I'm not sure, but she is one of the leading spokespersons for a harder line towards immigration. She is African, and I believe Muslim, but says that there should be stricter limitations and that there should be a stronger, more enforceable 'assimilation/ integration' process.

Her reasoning is that many immigrants and refugees come there and are then insulated from the Swedish community which lends itself to isolation and extremism of both sorts (Muslim and Xenophobia...) Her stance is (my memory ain't what it used to be....) that they need to learn the language and show they are capable of functioning in SWEDISH society, not just their isolated communities where no one has learned the language and everything is done in Arabic.

I agree it is a harsher stance than I would believe my family would take (My mother is Swedish, and quite liberal to her Texan-neighbors chagrin.) but then If you plan to seek asylum in a country that is so different from your own, I think you should take whatever means necessary to integrate with that society.

I don't agree that Iraq can be designated "not an armed conflict". It most certainly is.

[Cobalt Violet]

13. Ayaan Hirsi Ali

She is a Somalian ex-muslim. I think that's who you mean.

[mogster]

14. She's an affiliate of AEI

http://www.aei.org/scholars/filter.all,scholarID.117/scholar.asp

[xchrom]

10. kick -- thanks for the info on scandanavia.

[rodeodance]

16. By contrast, America has allowed far fewer Iraqis into the country. Just 68

Numbers lower in U.S.
Nearly 9,000 Iraqis requested asylum last year alone, Swedish officials said, and roughly 20,000 are expected to enter the country seeking protection this year.

By contrast, America has allowed far fewer Iraqis into the country. Just 68 Iraqis entered the U.S. legally between October and June as refugees, State Department officials said Friday. A total of 1,135 have found haven in this country since the start of the Iraq war in 2003.

The arrival of so many refugees in Sweden has changed its society, which used to be largely homogenous, and given rise to an anti-immigrant political party, called Sweden Democrats. The government has endorsed the stricter policy. Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said earlier this month that Iraqis will no longer automatically qualify for asylum despite the fighting.

[lastliberalintexas]

18. Question for the European posters

How true is it that the growing backlash also has anything to do with the adamantly conservative beliefs of many of the Arabic immigrants?

I've heard this from a UK native who is temporarily living in the states, and of course have seen this in the press. But I don't know how much of that is the real cause for the backlash, or if it's just a convenient excuse for the xenophobes. I can certainly see it either way, as I really can't imagine how a conservative Muslim (or US fundy Christian for that matter) would be able to really assimilate into such liberal, open and tolerant cultures.

[JustAnotherGen]

19. Ditto lastliberalintexas

My love lives in Lyon France. From his perspective (white, male, affluent, elite) it's 50% Xenophobism (France is known for it - hence why he feels it's important to correct the pronunciation of every other word out of my American mouth) and 50% a backlash against the unwillingness to just be 'French' regardless of one's religion. His words not mine. And yes - I've gone ten rounds with him and we a gentleman's/lady's agreement to not waste our the flat rate VoIP line on that argument anymore.


I would love additional perspective from other countries though.

[mogster]

20. It is a factor

But 911, and the subsequent 'war on terror' is the main reason. Our version of Le Pen, Carl Ivar Hagen, signed a set of guidelines in 2001; a pledge from the anti-racist org SMED (Centre Against Racial Discrimination) to keep a clean election campaign, free of racism. In 2003, he refused to sign the same pledge (and went bananas with his racist comments). Today the centre is closed, that may be a sign of the downturn for multi-culture.

More worrying; earlier this year, 45 Afghanis was refused refugee status by the Labour/Socialist Left govt., and the wording and the tone in their response left no doubt of the changed times:

- We have Afghanis on the lawn again

The immigrant spokesperson for the Labour party, Arild Stokkan-Grande, tells the Afghanis outside Stortinget (parliament) to keep walking to Afghaistan, and participate in the rebuilding of their home country.
http://www.dagbladet.no/nyheter/2007/06/19/503919.html
------------------------------------------------------

The Afghani refugees had walked a protest march from Trondheim to Oslo, and had set up camp outside the parliament when they arrived in Oslo.
Norway is participating in the Afghanistan ground war and have also been bombing the country.

[lastliberalintexas]

22. Thank you for the information in this thread and this response

I knew that you've had some extreme right wingers making waves in years past, but from this outsider's perspective it always seemed as though they were on the fringe of your political system. I have mistakenly assumed that the Scandinavian and Northern European countries were immune to such lunacy on a wide scale, but I guess I was wrong.

Guess that's what I get for thinking you people are smarter than we Americans! :D

[mogster]

26. Hehe

Or maybe it is what WE get from thinking we're smarter than the Americans :-P

Ah well, it's sad but we gotta keep informing people about the low standards of the press. That's where it starts; by hyperfocusing on multi-culture as a problem, not as an asset, you create a problem where there was none. If we also count women and gay people as part of multi-culture, there's no problem in seeing which religious/ideologial trends that has had an influence on the press since 2001. Especially the internet press, which is the driving force in shaping politics in Norway as it is in the US.

[midlife_mo_Jo]

27. I'm not European, but I've spent quite a bit of time in England

so my opinon is just based on my observations and what I've read.

As a generality (and that's all it is), peeople of color seem to assimilate pretty well in England as long as they aren't fundamentalist Muslims. People from India seem to be better assimilated, for instance.

[LeftishBrit]

29. This tends to be true of Indians, but often not of Afro-Caribbeans

The latter, who are very rarely Muslim, are perhaps the subject of greatest prejudice. Prejudices against Muslims - and probably also Muslim prejudices against others - have increased since 9-11 and the War on Terra. Before that time, I don't think Islamophobia was nearly as big an issue as colour prejudice or general xenophobia.

ETA: It's also my general impression that ease and speed of assimilation of immigrants has tended to be related more to original social class and educational level on entry to the UK than to religion. This is probably why *on average* Indians and Ugandan and Kenyan Asians have tended to assimilate faster than Pakistanis and Bangladeshis. But this is a huge generalization all round; and I think it can be said that anyone who isn't white, and many people who are, will encounter a significant amount of prejudice.

[LeftishBrit]

28. I can't really assess this with regard to Scandinavia

But I don't think it's the big factor with regard to the UK, at least as regards relations between Brits and immigrants (it's more of a factor in tensions between British-born Asians and their often more conservative immigrant parents or grandparents). I'm not saying that the attitudes of hard-line Muslims aren't an issue *at all*; but they can't explain the bulk of anti-immigrant prejudice

Because anti-immigrant prejudice in the UK has never been specific to Muslims. It has included Jewish and Irish immigrants, Afro-Caribbeans (perhaps the subject of greatest prejudice), Indians who are often Hindu or Sikh, and recently immigrants from Eastern Europe.

The people who are most anti-immigrant tend also to have social attitudes that are not too different from those of the most hard-line Muslims. Ironic but true!

[HowHasItComeToThis]

21. MAY SUGGEST http://www.thelocal.se/

YOU CAN SUBSCRIBE

[cliss]

25. Here's the real reason ~

it's coming down to economics. Sweden has an enormous amount of refugees - close to 900,000. That's about 10% of the population. Many of these people are worn out from warfare - they've got health issues, and it will take some time for them to get the specific job skills for working in Sweden.

Sweden is a "Full-Meal-Deal" country where you are taken care of from the cradle to the grave. The social benefits are really good. There is health care for everyone. All higher education is free, even to a Ph.D. So it's a good country to live in - I should know I live there. But - it's costly and the country can only handle so many refugees without breaking the system.

So the Iraqis (and many other nationalities) are potentially good productive citizens and they will be an asset to their new home - Sweden. But - it's going to take a while for them to get going.

[entanglement]

30. The Iraqi refugee crisis in worsening - there are a million Iraqi refugees in Jordan alone

And the demagogues and xenophobes of the world aren't making it any easier for them to get refuge :(

[kurth]

31. Stop the war and let them go home

[lakeguy]

32. what do you expect.?

the country is tiny and can't just continue to take people in without internal repercussions (iraqi refugees aren't the only ones sweden is taking on). why can't the US pick up the slack? 9 million person economy versus 300 million, why can't the US help shoulder the burden of the problem they caused (how many have been taken in)? these damn wars by the US are turning the world upside down, not just iraq and afghanistan.

it's a great thing that sweden has been able to help, above what other countries generally have done. but, you have to expect people to start getting upset when a larger and larger portion of the tax money collected is going to support refugees that should be helped by the US. it sucks, but that's how it is.

note that sweden has one of the highest per capita donation rates in the world. they already give more of each paycheck than most other countries do. every country has it's share of fringe elements, but sweden as a whole is a great country with good people.