Stockholm suburbs under seige

Immigrant group spreads violence in Stockholm suburbs.
May 23, 2013. This is the fourth day of violence triggered by a group of immigrant youngsters in at least 15 Stockholm suburbs. There have been massive destruction to vehicles and properties set on fire, as well as injuries suffered by members of the police force and bystanders caught in the crossfire.

Sweden's Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt commented on the matter in a press conference at the Riksdag on Tuesday afternoon.

"We've had two nights with great unrest, damage, and an intimidating atmosphere in Husby and there is a risk it will continue," he said.

"We have groups of young men who think that that they can and should change society with violence. Let's be clear: This is not OK. We cannot be ruled by violence."

Wednesday night saw more burning cars, smashed windows, and stone throwing at police in at least 15 suburbs around Stockholm, as the fourth night of riots swept the Swedish capital.

The unrest began shortly after 10pm in Husby, northwestern Stockholm where the riots began on Sunday night. Youths gathered in the town square, some of them masked.

Hagsätra in southern Stockholm came under fire at roughly the same time. A police patrol was attacked, and one officer was taken to hospital with serious injuries to the head.

By 2am, Stockholm's fire service had attended 75-80 incidents across the city. Much of their work was delayed by youths throwing stones at them, meaning police were left to attend to the stone-throwers to allow the fire fighters access to the fires.

A restaurant went up in flames in Skogås, southern Stockholm. Police labelled the crime as aggravated arson.

In Rågsved, a police station was set on fire, with officers gathering young people in a police bus and escorting them away to other parts of the city.

Many believe the catalyst to the riots was the fatal police shooting of a machete-wielding 69-year-old man in the area last Monday.

　Police arrested eight people on Tuesday night as thirty cars were torched across southern and western Stockholm, in what was the third consecutive night of unrest in the Swedish capital.
Rioters lit fires in cars in western and southern Stockholm, and threw stones at police officers and fire fighters. Cars were torched in Rinkeby, Skarpnäck, Norsborg, Kista, Fittja, Bredäng, Flemingsberg, Edsberg, and Tensta.

"These are places that have not been affected by this before and this is sad to hear. It feels like people are taking the opportunity in other areas because of the attention given to Husby," Kjell Lindgren of the Stockholm police told the Aftonbladet newspaper.
fatal police shooting of a 69-year-old man in Husby last Monday.
"You have to see what happened from a wider point of view. It's not the first time something like this has happened, and it's not the last. This is the kind of reaction when there isn't equality between people, which is the case in Sweden," Rami al-Khamisi, a law student and founder of local youth organization Megafonen, told The Local.


Restless immigrant youth with little to do

Lebanon-born Marianne Farede, 26, said that high youth unemployment was part of the problem, she put more blame on parents rather than a lack of support programmes from the Swedish state.

"It's how they've been raised. Everything comes back to their parents," she explained. "It's not the state's fault. You have to take control of your life, you can't just go out and ruin things for everyone else. That's doesn't help anything."

She also thought the young people of Husby and surrounding districts seem to have failed to realize how good they have it.

"If I lived in my homeland, I wouldn't have it as good as I do now. That's something I really appreciate," Farede explained.

"There aren't enough who do appreciate what they have. They want even more. You don't have to feel like a Swede to adjust to Swedish society."

Shahnaz Darabi, who runs a flower shop on Husby's main square, also attributed the recent violence to a group of disgruntled youths with too much time on their hands.

"It's just a bunch of young people who have no jobs and nothing to do. They think it's fun," she said.

Darabi, a native of Iran who has lived in Sweden for 19 years, also cited a lack of involvement by parents as a contributing factor to the riots.

"Parents are ultimately responsible. They need to set boundaries. They need to have more of a check on their children's lives," she said.

"If parents try to discipline their children, the kids complain in school, and say their parents have done this or that, and then [social services] steps in and tries to take the children away. Parents are scared they'll have their children taken from them."

The transition to life in Sweden is hardest for those who come to Sweden as young children, she added.

"They don't know what they are supposed to do, how they are supposed to act. They were raised differently in their home countries, where things are tougher. Here things are more lax. Too lax," the mother of two explained.

Darabi believes that too many immigrant parents fail to integrate into Swedish society, thus making it harder for their children.

"Many sit at home and watch television from their home countries, don't learn the Swedish language, they are out of work and living on benefits and can't move forward. They are stuck," she said.

"It's the individual and parents who need to take responsibility. But many don't; they only think about money and how to get benefits this month and next month. That affects their children. There has to be a limit. The state has given them too much, frankly." ( Summary from THE LOCAL's news reports)