Over the course of one night last year, three people were killed in separate attacks across Sweden - three of many violent attacks to rock the country in 2023.
The first victim was an 18-year-old man who was shot dead in a Stockholm suburb on September 27. Just hours later, one man was killed and another was wounded in a shooting in Jordbro, south of the city.
Then, as if two killings weren't enough, Soha Saad - a 24-year-old kindergarten teacher living with her brother and parents - died in an explosion in Uppsala, west of Stockholm, in the early hours of September 28.
In the aftermath, one neighbour described the blast as being 'like a war scene' and 'something you see on the news from Afghanistan.'
The violence meted out across the region in those 12 hours made international headlines, but to many living in Sweden - did not come as a surprise.
In a series of interviews, Swedish academics, a politician and a high ranking police officer have spoken to MailOnline about the multi-faceted crisis, describing a nation at crisis point that is ill equipped to tackle the scale of the violence.
Deadly violence linked to feuds between criminal gangs has escalated in recent years against the backdrop of high levels of migration into the country.
Mafia groups abroad have called the country a 'haven' for their activities, while organised crime groups have infiltrated business sectors and found ways to smuggle military-grade weapons into the country.
In response, Swedish police have been given new powers - such as the ability to declare 'visitation' or 'safe zones' in which officers have more temporary powers to increase their presence, and to search people, homes and vehicles.
But many, including within the government, have gone as far to call on a full closure of Sweden's borders to asylum seekers.
The killings have turned Sweden, seen for many years from the outside as a peaceful Scandinavian welfare state, into the European Union's gun-homicide capital.
Gangsters carry out personal vendettas against each other - or hire youngsters to do their dirty work. Almost half the suspects in the gun-related murders in 2022 were aged between 15 and 20 - youngsters who have been groomed by gangs that are, statistics show, largely run by second-generation immigrants.
Young hitmen have admitted to being hired to shoot and kill rivals, being paid as much as a million krona (around £73,000) to do so, or as little as a few thousand.
Experts say the violence has been driven by a number of factors: Turf wars between gangs, a growing drugs market, an influx of guns into the market, growing inequality, high level of immigration and also a failure of migrant integration into society.
Digger said
Jun 10 1:28 AM, 2024
I had an ex boyfriend who was Swedish. He told me that Sweden was so conservative and safe it was one of the most boring places to live. That was 30 years ago. Not any more.
jackb said
Jun 10 2:11 AM, 2024
Import the 3rd world become the third world.
Howe can it not be?
Anonymous said
Jun 10 8:03 AM, 2024
The Swedish government should have helped the asylum seekers integrate better. If it's second generation doing it, that means they were born in Sweden. They would have seen how badly their parents were treated by the native population, they're probably not treated any better themselves because they look so different to the locals.
Digger said
Jun 10 10:14 AM, 2024
Anonymous wrote:
The Swedish government should have helped the asylum seekers integrate better. If it's second generation doing it, that means they were born in Sweden. They would have seen how badly their parents were treated by the native population, they're probably not treated any better themselves because they look so different to the locals.
This has an element of truth but it's not the whole story. And this is the problem with do gooders. They decide to 'help' people without taking full responsibility for the long term. And they don't take into consideration the indigenous population and how they feel. There's no balance. You can't import thousands of people and expect them to suddenly integrate into a society that's totally alien to them. There's not the same values, mind sets, beliefs, religious faith etc. And whether anybody likes it or not, the one vital thing that's often forgotten is the human capacity for tribal. We are tribal creatures. It's hardwired into us. Integration is a choice. And there will always be those who choose not to.
jackb said
Jun 10 12:58 PM, 2024
Anonymous wrote:
The Swedish government should have helped the asylum seekers integrate better. If it's second generation doing it, that means they were born in Sweden. They would have seen how badly their parents were treated by the native population, they're probably not treated any better themselves because they look so different to the locals.
You mean force them to integrate because
the first generation obviously didn't want to and wouldn't.
The second generation would be dragged up Islamic fighting Christian and democratic values
because they know no better.
Since the Islamic revolution in Iran the kids every morning have had to recite I hate America death to America...
but we now have Americans marching in protest to support Palestinian Islamics... those Islamics are so conditioned
they would slit the throats of those protesting Americans in a heartbeat.
From what I can see western governments with millions of Islamic immigrants pouring in
have been giving these people warmth shelter food money protection education and so on.
Over the course of one night last year, three people were killed in separate attacks across Sweden - three of many violent attacks to rock the country in 2023.
The first victim was an 18-year-old man who was shot dead in a Stockholm suburb on September 27. Just hours later, one man was killed and another was wounded in a shooting in Jordbro, south of the city.
Then, as if two killings weren't enough, Soha Saad - a 24-year-old kindergarten teacher living with her brother and parents - died in an explosion in Uppsala, west of Stockholm, in the early hours of September 28.
In the aftermath, one neighbour described the blast as being 'like a war scene' and 'something you see on the news from Afghanistan.'
The violence meted out across the region in those 12 hours made international headlines, but to many living in Sweden - did not come as a surprise.
In a series of interviews, Swedish academics, a politician and a high ranking police officer have spoken to MailOnline about the multi-faceted crisis, describing a nation at crisis point that is ill equipped to tackle the scale of the violence.
Deadly violence linked to feuds between criminal gangs has escalated in recent years against the backdrop of high levels of migration into the country.
Meanwhile, Sweden's share of non-western population grew from 2 percent to 15 percent in just 20 years.
Mafia groups abroad have called the country a 'haven' for their activities, while organised crime groups have infiltrated business sectors and found ways to smuggle military-grade weapons into the country.
In response, Swedish police have been given new powers - such as the ability to declare 'visitation' or 'safe zones' in which officers have more temporary powers to increase their presence, and to search people, homes and vehicles.
But many, including within the government, have gone as far to call on a full closure of Sweden's borders to asylum seekers.
The killings have turned Sweden, seen for many years from the outside as a peaceful Scandinavian welfare state, into the European Union's gun-homicide capital.
Gangsters carry out personal vendettas against each other - or hire youngsters to do their dirty work. Almost half the suspects in the gun-related murders in 2022 were aged between 15 and 20 - youngsters who have been groomed by gangs that are, statistics show, largely run by second-generation immigrants.
Young hitmen have admitted to being hired to shoot and kill rivals, being paid as much as a million krona (around £73,000) to do so, or as little as a few thousand.
Experts say the violence has been driven by a number of factors: Turf wars between gangs, a growing drugs market, an influx of guns into the market, growing inequality, high level of immigration and also a failure of migrant integration into society.
Howe can it not be?
The Swedish government should have helped the asylum seekers integrate better. If it's second generation doing it, that means they were born in Sweden. They would have seen how badly their parents were treated by the native population, they're probably not treated any better themselves because they look so different to the locals.
This has an element of truth but it's not the whole story. And this is the problem with do gooders. They decide to 'help' people without taking full responsibility for the long term. And they don't take into consideration the indigenous population and how they feel. There's no balance. You can't import thousands of people and expect them to suddenly integrate into a society that's totally alien to them. There's not the same values, mind sets, beliefs, religious faith etc. And whether anybody likes it or not, the one vital thing that's often forgotten is the human capacity for tribal. We are tribal creatures. It's hardwired into us. Integration is a choice. And there will always be those who choose not to.
You mean force them to integrate because
the first generation obviously didn't want to and wouldn't.
The second generation would be dragged up Islamic fighting Christian and democratic values
because they know no better.
Since the Islamic revolution in Iran the kids every morning have had to recite I hate America death to America...
but we now have Americans marching in protest to support Palestinian Islamics... those Islamics are so conditioned
they would slit the throats of those protesting Americans in a heartbeat.
From what I can see western governments with millions of Islamic immigrants pouring in
have been giving these people warmth shelter food money protection education and so on.
What are they missing forced Bible studies?