Sweden

Summary of Conclusions

1.     Conservative backlash against progressive refugee policy in Sweden has led to a dramatic rise in xenophobic and racially-motivated violent crimes that pose a threat to immigrants, racial minorities, and surrounding communities.

Analysis

Race & Discrimination 

2.     Wrongful sanitation evictions of Roma from 2013-2016, mirroring previous methods of discrimination.

3.     Exclusion of term ‘race’ from anti-discrimination law; merely use ‘ethnicity’ and ‘national origin’.  

Refugee & Asylum  

4.     Sweden admitted more than 400,000 asylum seekers in the past five years.

5.     Tensions have been rising between native Swedes and recent immigrants, especially in cities with large refugee populations, like Malmö. Xenophobic sentiments run increasingly high.

6.     While Sweden’s refugee policy has been one of the most progressive in Europe in recent years, it cannot take on an unlimited number of migrants without experiencing conservative backlash.

7.     From 2012 to 2016, incidence xenophobic hate crimes rose 16% and incidence of Islamophobic crimes rose 43%. In 2016 alone, more than 90 arson attacks on refugee camps were reported.

8.     Far-right, anti-immigrant sentiments are on the rise. Negative narratives about migrants circulate socially. For example, stories abound that many migrant neighborhoods are so overrun with crime that the police designate them as “particularly disadvantaged/vulnerable”. Sweden was perceived as one of the better countries to be a refugee in in 2015, but that is changing as tensions rise.

9.     Immigrant neighborhoods formerly served as a gateway into Swedish society and a source of cultural support until residents would eventually integrate into other neighborhoods. Increasingly, however, residents have remained in these communities, creating segregation.

10.  Under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination Article 2 Section 2, the Swedish government is obligated to take “special and concrete measures to ensure the adequate development and protection of certain racial groups or individuals belonging to them, for the purpose of guaranteeing them the full and equal enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms.” This includes any measures necessary to address and prevent acts of violence and discrimination against any racial group.

Respectfully submitted,

/s/ Dave Inder Comar and Julia Sanchez

of Just Atonement Inc.

Link on the United Nations System

Universal Periodic Review Third Cycle - Sweden - Reference Documents on the United Nations System