Sweden: Refugee families forced to flee
Update 1:
There have been a couple of support/anti-racism demonstrations, one of which drew 700-800 people.
One commentator below wrote that the attack came after several Swedish girls were abducted and raped by immigrants. According to the local police (SE), the riots started after a girl was assaulted by an immigrant man earlier in the week. Uno Nilsson of the Västerbotten police says that it was not a serious assault and was not racially motivated, but it has since grown into something disproportionate and the girl brought in allies to avenge the assault.
As I wrote in the comments, the refugee families say they've been harassed for months after a girl said she was attacked by an Arab speaking boy. I'm not sure if this is the same case or not.
I understand that people have been distributing anti-immigrant pamphlets and posters in the area, and that there have been SMS messages sent out. I don't know if this is connected or not, but the area has a strong Nazi presence (see this story in the nearby village of Vännäsby).
Update 2:
Swedish blog Politisk Inkorrect reports (SE) that the riots broke out after a 16 year old girl was beaten up by three refugees and threatened with a knife that she shouldn't go to the police. She lost a tooth, got a black eye and a bruised temple, according to her friends. The incident was reported to the police.
One of the refugee boys who was suspected in the attack goes about with a knife and threatens other youth.
One of the youth arrested on Friday's and Saturday's riots said that this has nothing to do with racism, they just wanted to retaliate.
According to one immigrant interviewed by the local newspaper, the refugees think they still live in Iraq and they are the ones starting the fights.
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Several Iraqi refugee families were forced by a local lynch mob to leave their homes in Vännäs (northern Sweden) Saturday night. The families were evacuated to another neighborhood.
"What happened is terrible and unacceptable," says municipal commissioner Johan Söderling (S) to Västerbottens-Kuriren.
According to the information received, everything started with a fight between a group of Sweden and a group of immigrant youth on Friday. This developed on Saturday evening and night to harassment with stone throwing against windows and verbal threats
"All Arab speaking families were either threatened or harassed during the night. We had no other voice than to evacuate all the families. It's so terrible that it's unreal," says Ingrid Lindroth, refugee coordinator in Vännäs.
The incidents involved about 25-30 people who were now forced to move to a different neighborhood. The mob consisted of both youth and adults.
Ingrid Lindroth says she's never experienced anything similar before. What makes the situation even worse is that the refugees already experienced such terrible things and now when they come here, where they will feel secure, they're forced to flee again.
Municipal commissioner Johan Söderling is now preparing a crisis meeting in the municipality, to meet on Monday.
Source: Dagen (Swedish)
Update 1:
There have been a couple of support/anti-racism demonstrations, one of which drew 700-800 people.
One commentator below wrote that the attack came after several Swedish girls were abducted and raped by immigrants. According to the local police (SE), the riots started after a girl was assaulted by an immigrant man earlier in the week. Uno Nilsson of the Västerbotten police says that it was not a serious assault and was not racially motivated, but it has since grown into something disproportionate and the girl brought in allies to avenge the assault.
As I wrote in the comments, the refugee families say they've been harassed for months after a girl said she was attacked by an Arab speaking boy. I'm not sure if this is the same case or not.
I understand that people have been distributing anti-immigrant pamphlets and posters in the area, and that there have been SMS messages sent out. I don't know if this is connected or not, but the area has a strong Nazi presence (see this story in the nearby village of Vännäsby).
Update 2:
Swedish blog Politisk Inkorrect reports (SE) that the riots broke out after a 16 year old girl was beaten up by three refugees and threatened with a knife that she shouldn't go to the police. She lost a tooth, got a black eye and a bruised temple, according to her friends. The incident was reported to the police.
One of the refugee boys who was suspected in the attack goes about with a knife and threatens other youth.
One of the youth arrested on Friday's and Saturday's riots said that this has nothing to do with racism, they just wanted to retaliate.
According to one immigrant interviewed by the local newspaper, the refugees think they still live in Iraq and they are the ones starting the fights.
------------
Several Iraqi refugee families were forced by a local lynch mob to leave their homes in Vännäs (northern Sweden) Saturday night. The families were evacuated to another neighborhood.
"What happened is terrible and unacceptable," says municipal commissioner Johan Söderling (S) to Västerbottens-Kuriren.
According to the information received, everything started with a fight between a group of Sweden and a group of immigrant youth on Friday. This developed on Saturday evening and night to harassment with stone throwing against windows and verbal threats
"All Arab speaking families were either threatened or harassed during the night. We had no other voice than to evacuate all the families. It's so terrible that it's unreal," says Ingrid Lindroth, refugee coordinator in Vännäs.
The incidents involved about 25-30 people who were now forced to move to a different neighborhood. The mob consisted of both youth and adults.
Ingrid Lindroth says she's never experienced anything similar before. What makes the situation even worse is that the refugees already experienced such terrible things and now when they come here, where they will feel secure, they're forced to flee again.
Municipal commissioner Johan Söderling is now preparing a crisis meeting in the municipality, to meet on Monday.
Source: Dagen (Swedish)
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