Re: India-EU News & Analysis
Posted: 09 Nov 2019 03:04
^^ Apparently France is running out of people to surrender to, and Germany is frustrated that ppl are ignoring Fuhrera's orders.
Consortium of Indian Defence Websites
https://forums.bharat-rakshak.com/
How ironic. If there is any group that should NOT have access to power, that's the Europeans, considering the amount of misery they caused the rest of the world, be it the crusades, colonialism, racial conflicts, or the so-called world wars, in plural.Gerard wrote:Von der Leyen: 'Europe must learn the language of power'In the future, she added, the EU's partners should expect stronger positions from the bloc as the former strategy of exercising "soft power" is no longer enough in today's world.
They showed their bare arms and ankles!
When three explosions took place in one night across different parts of Stockholm last month, it came as a shock to residents. There had been blasts in other city suburbs, but never on their doorstep.
Those who cannot be named out of fear of being called racist and political correctness. Madness that will eventually devour them unless they wake up and take strict action including expulsion and deportation.Swedish police do not record or release the ethnicity of suspects or convicted criminals, but intelligence chief Linda H Straaf says many do share a similar profile.
"They have grown up in Sweden and they are from socio-economically weak groups, socio-economically weak areas, and many are perhaps second- or third-generation immigrants," she says.
Ideological debates about immigration have intensified since Sweden took in the highest number of asylum seekers per capita in the EU during the migrant crisis of 2015. But Ms Straaf says it is "not correct" to suggest new arrivals are typically involved in gang networks.
The problem is not the attacks but the light it shines of the failure of the pet project of the global left. Solution, Hide/downplay the news to protect the local and global left! Wah kya baat hai ji!After last month's trio of attacks in Stockholm, public broadcaster SVT was accused of a leftist cover-up for leaving the story out of a main evening news programme.
<snip>
"The problem is that Sweden is used symbolically as proof of problems with immigration, proof of problems with leftist policies - unfairly in many cases," he argues.
According to Pew projections, Sweden will become ~31% Muslim in 2040 types and more post that. Dar-Ul-Islam is on its way there. Its OK if they want to keep burying their heads deeper into the sand. Their choice, their consequences.pankajs wrote:New era of "Multiculturalism" has begun in Sweden.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50339977
Sweden's 100 explosions this year: What's going on? {What do you mean what is going on? This is the latest in Multiculturalism}When three explosions took place in one night across different parts of Stockholm last month, it came as a shock to residents. There had been blasts in other city suburbs, but never on their doorstep.Those who cannot be named out of fear of being called racist and political correctness. Madness that will eventually devour them unless they wake up and take strict action including expulsion and deportation.Swedish police do not record or release the ethnicity of suspects or convicted criminals, but intelligence chief Linda H Straaf says many do share a similar profile.
"They have grown up in Sweden and they are from socio-economically weak groups, socio-economically weak areas, and many are perhaps second- or third-generation immigrants," she says.
Ideological debates about immigration have intensified since Sweden took in the highest number of asylum seekers per capita in the EU during the migrant crisis of 2015. But Ms Straaf says it is "not correct" to suggest new arrivals are typically involved in gang networks.
Sweden, the humanitarian superpower, is ridiculed, after ultra-liberal approach to fighting ongoing drug gang wars sees them invite violent criminals to meet with police, relatives of victims and prosecutors over pizza.
Malmö has a serious crime problem. With a population of around 316,000, Sweden’s third largest city suffers all the afflictions of a modern urban society, with a large population of immigrants, gangs and drug trafficking.
A 15-year-old boy was shot dead in the city and another was critically wounded at the weekend, just minutes after a bomb was detonated underneath a car in another Malmö district, destroying the vehicle and damaging others, in what police believe was a diversion from the killing, part of an ongoing, drug-related gang war.
Needless to say, no-one has been arrested. Shocked by the crimes and recent shootings of Swedish nationals in their own country, Denmark, just across the water, has temporarily reinstated border controls with Sweden, in a bid to prevent the import of any violent criminal behavior, as the feuds continue.
Last year, more than 300 shootings resulted in 45 deaths and 135 injuries in Sweden.
A survey by the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention, published earlier this year, revealed that residents of Malmö were more affected by crime than those of any other area in the country. Some 29 percent of the people living in the city reported to have been victims of crimes against an individual. One of the districts of Malmo was also revealed to be the worst in Sweden for burglary.
So what have Malmo police done in turn to address this alarming escalation in violence between warring drug gangs? They invited a dozen gang leaders – nine turned up - along for a sit-down chat with police, relatives of crime victims and legal prosecutors.
And there was pizza.
Again, needless to say, no-one was arrested.
Dubbed “Operation Snowflake” by one wag on social media, the Malmö Chief of Police Stefan Sentéus declared the “call-in” exercise a success to Expressen newspaper, claiming the message they were trying to convey to the violent criminals they invited had hit its target.
“It was really appreciated,” said the chief, who admitted there have been 28 further explosions in Malmö in 2019.
For the country that considers itself a humanitarian superpower, this latest descent into “Absurdistan” is the result of a nation that finds it hard to be frank about what is really going on, after Sweden’s immigration surge in 2015 which saw 163,000 asylum seekers arrive in the country of 10 million inhabitants. Most of the gang members are unemployed young men under 30 years of age, with immigrant backgrounds, living in deprived neighbourhoods, who have failed to fully integrate into the Swedish way of life.
So rather than admit the failure of its immigration and integration policies and the negative impact on their globally-celebrated humanitarian credentials, the Swedes try to spin it with yet another ill-conceived liberal approach of embracing criminals, in the hope that they’ll start feeling all warm and fuzzy and stop killing one another along with innocent bystanders. One of the experts taking part in the exercise told the gang leaders, as if they were unaware:
“You are the ones most at risk of being injured or killed.”
The reaction on social media suggests the soft-touch meeting did not go down well with those expecting protection from their police force, instead of platitudes.
“First they abuse and rob us, and then we taxpayers pay for their damn pizza!” was typical of the responses. In a wonderfully practical approach, one other social media user suggested the police missed a golden opportunity to simply lock up the thugs while they had them all gathered in the same place. That would have at least saved the cost of the pizza.
By Damian Wilson, UK journalist & political communications specialist
aren't Sweden and Denmark at forefront of liberalism in EU?! It's like Pakis complaining about India because of root cause s within while Afghans and Iranians also have built border fence at paki borders.Shocked by the crimes and recent shootings of Swedish nationals in their own country, Denmark, just across the water, has temporarily reinstated border controls with Sweden, in a bid to prevent the import of any violent criminal behavior, as the feuds continue.
The trial of two Indian citizens accused of spying on Kashmiri and Sikh groups in Germany and sharing information with Indian intelligence agents began on Thursday at the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt.
Manmohan S., 50, and his wife, 51-year-old Kanwal Jit K., were charged with foreign secret service agent activity in Germany. Starting from January 2015, Manmohan had allegedly obtained information on Kashmiri separatist and Sikh groups operating in Germany and passed it on officials of India's external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), posted at the Indian Consulate in Frankfurt.
From July 2017, his wife Kanwal Jit is also suspected of taking part in the intelligence gathering. In return for their service, the couple allegedly received a total of €7,200 ($7,974) from RAW. While the trial begins on Thursday, further hearings are scheduled up until December 12.
If convicted, the couple may be sentenced for up to 10 years in prison.
Before the Higher Regional Court (OLG) in Frankfurt on Thursday, the trial began against two suspected Indian spies. The prosecution accuses a couple of having passed on information about opposition to the Indian foreign intelligence service. The 50-year-old Manmohan S. should at the latest from January 2015 in eleven cases, information about the Sikh scene and the Kashmir movement in Germany have passed.
For example, in April 2015 he allegedly transmitted the names of 14 opposition members who allegedly demonstrated against the politician during a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Germany. In another case, he reported a dispute within a Sikh community in Cologne. In addition, he had informed the intelligence service about the attitudes of various Sikh organizations in Germany to Indian politics.
As of July 2017, his wife, 52-year-old Kanwal Jit K., is said to have participated in two cases. The information should be forwarded by telephone or at monthly meetings to conscientious leaders disguised as consuls. In return, the couple should have received a wage of at least 7200 euros. The couple did not comment on the allegations of the indictment on Thursday.
S. had lived with his wife in India near the border with Pakistan, he said on the first day of the trial. There he was politically committed to the interests of the religious community of the Sikh. He had been arrested by the Indian authorities and spent several months in prison.
Since the circumstances in India after the murder of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by two Sikh bodyguards in 1984 and the subsequent violent riots against the Sikh were "heated", S. had made the decision to go to Germany, said the defense , Only the second asylum application had been successful in an appeal hearing.
In 1992, K. followed him to Germany with her first son. For two years K. had been self-employed in Germany as a textile merchant, her husband had been their temporary help during this time. The business was not profitable and was closed in 2005.
While S. claims to have been politically involved for some years in Germany, his wife is said to have never been politically active according to their defense lawyer. By mid-December six trial dates are scheduled in the OLG state protection proceedings.
And so it has started .. at least talks have started ..Voice of Europe @V_of_Europe
“Sweden is full, many migrants need to go home” – leader Sweden Democrats says *
Kanchan Gupta @KanchanGupta
Europe will increasingly shut its doors and reclaim its spaces. Decline of globalisation and revival of nationalism will impact legal immigration and so-called 'refugee' migration hardest.
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/ ... 107906.ece“We emphasise the importance of respect for human rights, that an escalation of the situation in Kashmir is avoided and that a long-term political solution to the situation must involve Kashmir’s inhabitants. Dialogue between India and Pakistan is crucial. Sweden and the EU (European Union) urge the Indian government to lift the remaining restrictions imposed on Jammu and Kashmir. It is crucial that free movement and communication opportunities are restored,” the statement by Ms. Linde in the Riksdag said.
https://www.theguardian.com/law/2019/se ... n-a-decadeThe ten countries with the highest rates of rape (number of incidents per 100,000 citizens) are:
South Africa (132.4)
Botswana (92.9)
Lesotho (82.7)
Swaziland (77.5)
Bermuda (67.3)
Sweden (63.5)
Suriname (45.2)
Costa Rica (36.7)
Nicaragua (31.6)
Grenada (30.6)
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-50622051Rape charges, prosecutions and convictions in England and Wales have fallen to their lowest levels in more than a decade.
The steep decline comes despite the number of rapes the police record more than doubling over six years to 58,657 in 2018.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-47959684According to the latest government crime figures, police registered 33,658 cases of rape in India in 2017 - an average of 92 every day.
If a man goes back on his promise to marry a woman, can sex between consenting adults then be considered rape?
The Indian Supreme Court recently answered this question with a "yes".In a significant verdict, the court upheld a trial court order convicting a doctor of rape in the central state of Chhattisgarh because he had a consensual sexual relationship with a woman after he'd promised to marry her, but then went back on his word and married someone else.
https://www.theguardian.com/global-deve ... lse-claimsThis is not a rare case - according to the government's crime data for 2016, police recorded 10,068 similar cases of rape by "known persons on promise to marry the victim". In 2015, that number was 7,655.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau, a total of 38,947 rape cases were reported in India in 2016. In 10,068 cases – about a quarter – the women claimed it was rape on false promise of marriage. In Andhra Pradesh state, 45% of all rape cases filed in the past two years fell into the false marriage category.
“When a relationship ends, women who have had consensual sex make false accusations of rape under promise of marriage out of vengefulness, to hurt the man. Or they do it to extort money out of him, promising to withdraw the charge if he gives them what they want,” says lawyer Vinay Sharma.
In many cases, false rape accusations are simply the result of parents covering up the “shame” of an unmarried daughter having sex. Research carried out in 2015 by journalist Rukmini Shrinivasan, who worked for the Hindu newspaper at the time, revealed that when parents discover their unmarried daughters are in a sexual relationship, their horror at potential “dishonour” to the family name leads many to make spurious allegations of rape, having first bullied their children into submission.
By their logic, saying a daughter has been raped is preferable to people thinking she is sexually active. Shrinivasan stumbled upon this finding after discerning a pattern in the charge sheets she examined in Mumbai. Time and again, it was the same story: the victim had been picked up in a moving car, given a drink laced with sedatives to render her unconscious, and raped.
The recurrence of the sedative-laced drink seemed striking. Then the penny dropped. “This allegation is important because it is necessary to show that consent was not given, to protect the girl’s reputation,” says Shrinivasan.
Sharma supports her findings. He says the same story can be found in 50 of his 90 cases. “Only the names, dates and locations are different, otherwise they all narrate the story of sedatives and drinks when in fact the girls were in a relationship and willingly having sex,” he says.
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-38796457Shrinivasan’s research into the 460 rape cases that came to trial in New Delhi in 2013 revealed that “more than one third turned out to be cases of couples having consensual sex outside marriage but, when the parents found out, they went to the police to end the relationship”.
Her first discovery was that the media's alarm about stranger rape was overblown.
"Stranger rape, the thing that gets most highly reported in India, was an absolutely tiny category," she says. It accounted for just 12 of the 460 cases.
A Christian man preaching in the streets of a Norwegian city was beaten and robbed after being asked for spiritual healing by a group of Muslim men. He was also threatened with death if he did not convert to Islam.
Roar Flottum was preaching and praying for the sick in Trondheim when he was approached by four Muslim men. According to Flottum, the group asked him to come pray for a friend who had injured his foot. Instead, they led him to a secluded backyard and then pushed him down a cellar staircase. After beating and robbing him, the group allegedly threatened to kill the Christian street preacher if he did not convert to Islam.
“They wanted me to say a few words in Arabic,” he told local media in an interview. “I was scared and actually thought they were going to kill me because they said they had a knife and didn’t want witnesses.”
Flottum immediately went to police after the incident, despite being warned not to report his assault to authorities. In a Facebook post, the Norwegian said that he did not suffer any serious injuries, but had been robbed of around 10,000 kroner (about $1,000). He said that the Muslim men had been very nice to him when he first encountered them in the street and that he “couldn’t believe they would deceive” him. The preacher vowed that the terrifying encounter would not stop him from proselytizing in the streets.
police have not made any arrests connected to the attack.
Norwaystan is one of many European nations that have struggled to assimilate migrants from the Middle East and North Africa. Social tensions have led to an uptick in right-wing anti-immigrant sentiment across the bloc. In November, the head of Stop Islamization of Norway (SIAN) set a copy of the Koran on fire at an anti-Muslim rally in the city of Kristiansand, sparking outrage from many Muslim nations and advocacy groups.
Manmohan S. was handed a one-and-a-half-year suspended jail sentence for illegal espionage activities, while Kanwal Jit K. received a fine equivalent to 180 days of income for aiding and abetting such activities.
He’d bought an apartment and a car, taken Swedish lessons, signed his toddler up for daycare and even improved his skiing skills to embrace the frozen temperatures. Yet more than three years after his family arrived in Sweden and despite his well-paid senior position at one of its most prestigious power and technology companies, Ali Omumi was asked to leave the country.
“For me it was a huge frustration, for my wife it was the beginning of a deep depression,” laments the engineering sales specialist, who is originally from Iran.
Omumi, then 38, was given a final deportation order in 2018, after unsuccessfully appealing a decision by the Swedish Migration Agency. Officials denied his application for a work permit extension based on an administrative mistake made by a software company he’d previously been employed by, which had failed to provide the correct insurances.
“Deportation gave me the feeling: ‘I am a criminal’ – while I know I am not. I came to work and pay taxes, and I brought my experience and money.”
Sweden’s talent shortage
Sweden has a shortage of qualified graduates in subjects including engineering and programming, meaning employers are increasingly looking beyond national and EU borders in order to plug vacancies. Thousands of skilled foreign workers move to the Nordic country each year and many decide they want to stay, thanks to a relatively strong economy and a high quality of life.
Work permits – required for non-EU workers – are initially linked to a specific job, but those who wish to move companies can start new roles while they are waiting for their visa extensions to be processed. Yet hundreds of non-EU workers like Ali have had their extension applications rejected on the basis of minor administrative mistakes made by former employers during their residency.
Alongside insurance issues, other errors that have led to deportation include incorrect pension payments, taking too little or too much holiday, or even scoring a job via LinkedIn that wasn’t advertised by the Swedish Public Employment Service.
Swedes call these deportations kompetensutvisning, which means the “expulsion of someone who has skills required in the labour market”, and the issue is a long-running hot topic, especially in its fast-expanding tech-scene. One Pakistani developer’s deportation in 2016 sparked a petition signed by more than 10,000 people including Spotify’s cofounder Daniel Ek, who later admitted that 15 of his company’s top hires had been threatened with deportation.
Earlier this year the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce warned that the trend could damage the Swedish capital’s economy, while a local branch of Startup Grind, the world’s largest independent start-up community organisation, held an event called Keep The Talent to protest against Sweden “draining international talent”. In March, the results of a major survey for The Diversify Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation which campaigns for a more inclusive labour market, found that 81% of non-EU workers who responded said their health or their family’s health had been affected by the threat of deportation. Nearly 70% said they would not recommend Sweden as a destination for foreign workers.Many people…feel insecure about the legal system in Sweden. – Alexandra Loyd
“We think that it has been harmful for Sweden's international reputation,” says Alexandra Loyd, a lawyer for Centrum för Rättvisa, a not-for-profit public interest law firm which represents some of the affected workers. “Many people – workers or employers that are in contact with us – feel insecure about the legal system in Sweden.”
The root of the problem, she argues, is the Swedish Migration Agency’s strict interpretation of a 2015 ruling made by the Migration Court of Appeal, which said that permits should not be extended for workers whose employers had not upheld industry norms. The ruling was linked to two cases where foreigners had been underpaid and was designed to protect migrants from exploitation by dishonest employers.
This is a cornerstone of working culture in Sweden, which has a long history of strong unions and strict agreements designed to protect employees’ rights.
However, it resulted in a spell of deportations of sought-after talent based on small administrative errors. In 2017, more than 1,800 people had their work permit renewals rejected, although it is not possible to break down exactly how many of these were due to minor mistakes.
Limited progress
The situation has improved over the past two years, in part thanks to an amendment in the law, which allows employers to correct errors retroactively. Meanwhile a fresh decision by the Migration Court of Appeal in December 2017 ruled that there should be an “overall assessment” of each applicant’s case in order to make more proportionate decisions, instead of automatically issuing rejections based on minor errors.
Per Ek, a spokesman for the agency, says he understands that some foreign workers end up “in a very difficult situation” if their visas are declined. But he insists that “overall assessment” method is largely “working quite smoothly” to limit the expulsions of skilled workers, while at the same time staying true to earlier legislation designed to protect workers across all industries.
“We are here for one clear reason. We have to make sure that the legislation or the laws are fulfilled… and we are trying our best to inform everyone who's coming here, in different kind of languages – in English for sure – on what kind of rules or requirements need to be fulfilled.”
I hope this lawsuit will push the decision makers to design better legislation – Ali Omumi
So far, 550 people have had their work permits rejected in 2019, including around 50 working in skilled IT and programming roles, significantly fewer than in 2018 and 2017.
However lawyer Alexandra Loyd believes the agency still has the tendency to “stick to the rules” – rejecting cases where there is no legal precedent and waiting for these to be appealed in the courts, rather than looking at the bigger picture at the start of each visa renewal process. “There is a lack of foreseeability in the system and in the decisions from the Migration Agency,” she argues.
Sales engineer Ali Omumi is now back in Sweden where he has taken on a new role with his former employer ABB. But securing his return was a long process. The Iranian temporarily relocated to Istanbul with his family while he looked for new opportunities in Sweden and elsewhere in northern Europe. He initially rented out the family’s home, but was soon forced to sell it at below the market rate, after being told he had broken rules which ban most apartment owners in Sweden from hiring out their properties unless they have moved because of work, studies, sickness or to live with a partner or other relatives, none of which applied to Omumi.
When he was offered his job in Sweden, he was initially blocked from applying for a new visa, because the Migration Authority said he had not been outside the country for long enough, a decision which was eventually overturned. Centrum för Rättvisa is now helping him sue the Swedish state for loss of earnings during the period he was away. It’s the first time a deported worker has lodged a case of this kind, and he could be awarded around 600,000 Swedish kronor ($62,900).
“The main objective is to get acknowledgement that what has happened has been wrong and for the Migration Agency not to do this anymore,” says Loyd, who hopes the case will prove to be a landmark. If it reaches Sweden’s Supreme Court, it could set a precedent for other deported workers who believe they’ve been unfairly treated.
“I hope this lawsuit will push the decision makers to design better legislation, in which the international talent can come here… and stay in Sweden as long as they contribute,” adds Omumi. “Ultimately, it will be a better Sweden for all.”
Sweden’s Migration Agency says it does not want to speculate on the potential impact of the lawsuit. “Let them make the decision first on that case, then we can comment,” says spokesperson Per Ek. The agency did not comment on the specifics of Omumi's case.
Who is still affected?
In the meantime, many skilled foreign workers remain in limbo. Front end web developer Zena Jose, who is from India, is currently appealing against the decision to reject her visa extension. The 28-year-old works at a start-up in Stockholm, but previously worked for a major company in the Swedish capital, followed by a stint working remotely from Mumbai. Her first employer’s failure to cancel her original visa has, she says, been given as an administrative error that warrants her deportation.
“It's very discouraging because it's not my fault that this is happening and I haven't done anything wrong. But I'm the one who has to pay for it,” she says.
There are a lot of people who are in tougher situations... who don't have an easy or nice country to get back to – Aniel Bhaga
The start-up worker has been advised not to leave Sweden during her appeal, since she might face problems if she returns without valid paperwork. This means she’s unable to visit relatives over the Christmas break. “It's pretty depressing because I cannot visit my family or my friends back home... and it's been almost a year now,” she says.
Aniel Bhaga, a 34-year-old from Australia who most recently worked as a business developer for Swedish fashion brand H&M in Stockholm, lost a three-year legal battle to remain in the country in October, due to administrative errors made by previous start-ups he’d worked for.
“I built up a massive professional network, built up a really, really, good family-and-friends network here, I built my life,” he laments.
Bhaga is now living with his parents in Brisbane and freelancing while he launches a fresh application for a work permit to resume his job at H&M. Although he’s fed up with his situation, he believes he is “one of the lucky ones”, explaining that “there are a lot of people who are in tougher situations... who don't have an easy or nice country to get back to” while they wait out the process.
A divisive issue
Sweden’s government has addressed the issue on a political level, but progress is slow. In January, an agreement signed between Prime Minister Stefan Löfven’s centre-left Social Democrat party, its coalition partner the Greens and two smaller centre-right parties promised to “solve the problem” of kompetensutvisning and floated plans for a new talent visa for highly qualified foreign workers, starting in 2021. Since then, however, few concrete details have been revealed and Migration Minister Morgan Johansson declined to be interviewed for this article.
Labour migration in general remains a divisive issue, with opposition parties and workers’ unions offering a broad range of views on the top priorities for any further legal changes. Some want to limit visas, offering them only to foreigners working in professions where there are proven labour shortages, while others stand against labour market tests and want even more flexibility when it comes to handling minor administrative errors made by employers. Meanwhile several recent high profile media investigations, such as Swedish public service broadcaster SVT’s documentary about the exploitation of Vietnamese nail salon workers, have added fuel to the debate by exposing the potential for circumventing even the current regulations.
Matthew Kriteman, chief operating officer for The Diversify Foundation, says Sweden is being pulled in different directions, with officials still “finding their way on how to keep the traditions of labour regulations” while also “integrating the foreign talent they need to diversify”.
If you want to grow and move things forward and make companies global, you need international talent to bring that extra ‘spice’ – Aniel Bhaga
He says Sweden’s experiences should be closely watched, with kompetensutvisning representing much more than a collection of individual court battles or internal debates. “I think it actually reflects the challenges of this kind of fourth industrial revolution, where technology, ideas and innovation are more fluid,” he says. “When it comes to mobility, this is a problem of the future... there's no doubt that innovation and disruption and the real talent actually [have] an enormous marketplace of different destinations to go.”
‘Keep the ones you have’
“If you want to grow and move things forward and make companies global, you need international talent to bring that extra ‘spice’ into all the companies and the teams,” agrees Aniel Bhaga, who warns that foreign start-up talent in Sweden will be increasingly tempted to relocate to cities like Berlin or London if the Nordic country doesn’t find a long-term solution to kompetensutvisning.
He argues that “raising awareness” of the current rules among employees and employers is the key first step, alongside “better collaboration” between the country’s leading corporations and start-ups, unions and politicians.
“You're attracting all these people here. But you also need to keep the ones you have... because that’s what’s going to drive innovation forward in Sweden.”
"We definitely have the characteristics of a narco-state," confides Jan Struijs, chairman of the biggest Dutch police union.
"Sure we're not Mexico. We don't have 14,400 murders. But if you look at the infrastructure, the big money earned by organised crime, the parallel economy. Yes, we have a narco-state."
His words echo in a society that has been convulsed by a murder that went far beyond the bubble of the criminal underworld.
The deadly shooting of Derk Wiersum destroyed a common misconception here: that drug cartels only kill their own. A 44-year-old father of two, he was shot dead in front of his wife outside their home in Amsterdam in September.
'This is meant to frighten us'
Wiersum was the lawyer for a crown prosecution witness, Nabil B, who had turned supergrass in a case against two of the Netherlands' most wanted suspects.
The shooting in broad daylight in quiet suburbia was seen as an attack on civil society, democracy and the rule of law.
"This is meant to frighten us," warned public prosecutor Fred Westerbeke. "We must continue to use key witnesses otherwise we will get no further."
Suddenly, the fears of a drug users' paradise turning into a haven for drug crime and an economy undermined by it had burst into the open.
Shock at murder of Dutch lawyer in gangster case
"A few incidents over the last few years were like a sign on the wall," explains Wouter Laumans whose bestseller, Mocro Mafia, is a story charting the rise of a new generation of criminals in Amsterdam.
"The signs were there that it could flow over from the underworld to the upper world, and now that has happened."
Laumans lists a series of incidents as evidence of the escalating brutality:
Two young boys killed in Kalashnikov shootout with bullets ricocheting off walls
A mother murdered in front of her children
A severed head outside a coffee shop
The murder of a crown witness's brother, Reduan B
The murder of lawyer Derk Wiersum
.........................................
In August 2017, this consignment of thousands of ecstasy pills depicting Donald Trump's face was intercepted by police in the German city of Osnabrück
1 READ MORE: Integration or indoctrination? Video of Danish schoolkids chanting Allahu Akbar triggers DEBATE‘Role play’? Swedish schoolkids made to kneel in gender-segregated MUSLIM prayer & told to listen to Koran in Arabic
24 Dec, 2019 08:24 / Updated 3 hours ago
A Swedish school decided to familiarize its fifth-graders with Islamic worshipping by having a teacher recite Koranic verse to them and having them pray facing Mecca, in a bizarre set-up the educators called “role play.”
An offbeat “religion lesson” was taught at the Bjurbäck school situated in the south of Sweden, according to Samhallsnytt news outlet. An outraged parent said pupils were told to face the Kaaba and kneel on prayer mats, while the whole class was divided by gender, with girls forced to the back of the room.
His daughters “did not even want to be there because they could not understand a word of what the teacher read from the Koran in Arabic,” the man, called Markus, revealed. After the “prayer,” the pupils “would dance to Arabic music and eat Arabic cake” in something used to replicate Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim festivities marking the end of compulsory fasting.
Local authorities confirmed the report, with an education official in Emmaboda – a serene southern county where the school is located – telling the news outlet that the class did take place. When confronted by angry parents, the school management defended the activity, referring to it as “role play.” But the awkward explanation didn’t sit well with Markus who wants the school to apologize and its principal to be suspended.
“Calling this a role play is not OK as it hits me as a parent,” he told the paper. “It’s me, not the school, that raises my children ... they go there to learn things that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.”
The story sparked uproar on social media.
“Of course, the continuation of it will be Muslim students learning the Lord’s Prayer and attending a Catholic mass,” one person suggested.
“Forcing minors into submission is disastrous. One should choose a religion on their own,” another one wrote.
However, the Emmaboda municipality tried to cool down tempes, saying that, while “his lesson was about Islam and Muslim rituals and traditions,” there are other classes teaching about other world religions.
The class in question involved “so-called role-play pedagogy where the students have different roles in order to gain a better understanding” of the subject, it explained. During the lesson, no student expressed concern or felt insecure, the authorities said, adding that taking part in the role play wasn’t compulsory.
A similar scandal broke out in neighboring Denmark this summer, when a boy of African descent was filmed teaching his third-grade classmates a daily prayer ritual, with the exercise ending with the class kneeling and chanting ‘Allahu Akbar’ (Allah is great). The school, however, defended the teaching methods used to integrate children of different cultures.