Sweden: Part 2 -- Mother Jones vs The Times (UK) vs Reuters (Malmö)

There's been a lot of talk -- from conservatives -- about immigration violence in Sweden. I paid passing attention to it, but wasn't necessarily convinced as it really was just from conservative sites.

In Part 1, I look at recent events that got me curious enough to do a Google search on the topic. Basic summary is that the far right in Sweden has been calling for the military to go out and crack down on gangs. In a recent Riksdag debate, the current Prime Minister (not from the far right party) appeared to leave that option open.

I did a Google search and came upon three articles that provided opinion and further insight into what is going on in Sweden.

First up is Mother Jones (21 Feb 2017). Now let's just state that this article is a year old and doesn't take into account the recent Riksdag debate. What's discussed:

First: Much of this debate is in regards to the city of Malmö.

Second: Kevin Drum -- the writer of the piece -- goes through crime statistics in Sweden.

Third: Crime is trending down in the city over the last decade.

Fourth: Murder rates have increased from 7 in 2014 to 12 in 2016. (My bias: In a way, you might consider that a statistical blip.)

Fifth: Kevin Drum puts much of the blame on increased gang violence, which doesn't necessarily mean it is driven by immigrants as there is a long history of immigration.

Next up we have Reuters (12 July 2017). What does Reuters have to say?

First: Police are checking papers at worksites, looking for undocumented workers (My bias: I wonder how this would fly with the left in the US?)

Second: The police increased these checks after a terrorist attack in April 2017 when Rakhmat Akilov drove a truck into Stockholm shoppers.

Third: The Migration Agency estimated 10,000 asylum-seekers a year will choose to disappear rather than be deported. Up to 50,000 undocumented immigrants already work in hotels, transport, construction and restaurants, the agency said last year.

Fourth: Opinion polls indicate a shift in attitude towards immigration. In 2017, 52% favored letting in fewer refugees into the country. In 2015, this was 40%.

Fifth: the Sweden Democrats (a party that started out as Neo-Nazis) poll at 20%.

Finally, we have The Times - UK (21 January 2017). What do they have to say?

First: Rapes are up 10% versus 2016 and 36% of young Swedish women feel unsafe at night.

Second:  In Malmö, where a fifth of the 340,000 inhabitants are under 18, children as young as 14 roam the streets with Kalashnikov assault rifles and bulletproof vests. The average age of gang members is 22, the vast majority of them hailing from migrant families.

Third: Paramedics and firefighters refuse to go into Rinkeby (outside of Stockholm's old centre) without police escort.

The one important fact that Mother Jones leaves out is the gangs hail from migrant families, which is stated in The Times article. Kevin Drum does state that these gangs have been around for awhile, but he never goes into any detail about the ethnic make-up of these gangs. From reading the article, one could just assume they're Swedish Europeans. He also states that immigrants have been moving to Sweden for years and that the uptick has just happened recently. But he doesn't discuss the recent uptick in immigration. Kevin Drum does state that Sweden loves statistics so I took a look and found this government website with immigration data:

2016: 163K
2015: 134K
2014: 127K
2013: 116K
2012: 103K
2011: 96K
2010: 99K
2009: 102K
2008:  101K
2007: 99K

There is a large uptick in immigration from 2007 - 2016, but that doesn't tell the full story. Per the website, between 2010 - 2015, only 20% of immigration was related to asylum seekers. In 2016, that number was 47%. So this is another fact that Kevin Drum is leaving out -- that there is a large increase in asylum seekers. With that, one might actually argue there could be a correlation between an increase in gang violence and immigration.

What is interesting about the Reuters article is the quote that 10,000 asylum seekers a year who are denied their papers may simply disappear versus getting deported. My question: if you disappear, you have to depend on help from someone, right? Could a portion of these individuals be finding their way into gangs? Also, is shouldn't be ignored that Swedes are turning against immigration and that the shift in opinion polls is probably one reason why the Prime Minister stated in an interview that he wouldn't rule out using the military to combat the gangs. Sometimes if you want to stay in power, you've got to consider options that goes against your beliefs.

On the other hand, how accurate is The Times article? Are massive numbers of children walking the streets with Kalashnikov assault rifles and bulletproof vests? Or did someone just see a small handful of children walking around a gang infested area? It just seems possible that The Times article is trying to be sensationalist.

Essentially, I think Mother Jones is purposely ignoring certain facts. On the other hand, The Times might be prone to exaggeration. The truth is probably in the middle somewhere, which means that it is something to keep an eye on. Due to that, I'll add this to my list of issues that I blog on.