Malmö: Pre-school closed down for fear of youth gangs

Malmö: Pre-school closed down for fear of youth gangs

Swedish newspaper Sydsvenskan reports (SV) that children, parents and staff were dealing with threats and harassment. Amal Chekaidem, who has five children, all of whom went to this pre-school says: "Now they're moving the children, but those who live here, what should we do? It's a big problem for all of society. why don't they remove those who cause the problems?"

Some parents think it's good that the children will go to another school. Mahmoud Selman: "It's good they move and hope they'll get somewhere where they feel safe."


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A pre-school in Malmö's Rosengård district was shut down on Monday morning in the interests of staff safety following an extended period of threats and harassment from a gang of local youths.


Henrik Wolter, a health and safety representative for the Swedish Teachers' Union, took the decision to close the pre-school with immediate effect following consultation with district leaders.


The 34 children who attend the Herrgården pre-school have been moved temporarily to a school in Käglinge in south-east Malmö, but district chief Eva Ahlgren expects the children to move to a new location in Rosengård on Wednesday. In the longer term, places have been set aside for the children at a pre-school affiliated with Rosengård School, which is currently being extended.


"The closure of Herrgården's pre-school was necessary. Staff have been repeatedly exposed to fighting and harassment. On one occasion a glass bottle was thrown from a window at one of the employees," said Ahlgren.


She added that she had not previously been aware of the problem.


The pre-school is located in an area at the centre of a housing standards scandal last year when its run-down apartment complexes were found to be riddled with mould and cockroaches.


Herrgården has also served as a flashpoint for many of the disturbances that have plagued the predominantly immigrant suburb of Rosengård in recent years.


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Source: The Local (English)