The Great Swedish Immigration

Sweden thrives to the image of being world’s ‘Moral Superpower’. That is probably the reason why the media here is very careful in reporting the dilemma and the near collapse of this ‘welfare state’ (IPC).  Since our move here nearly a decade ago, as work migrants I have noticed the changes in the landscape of the city of Malmo which is the largest entrance and a migrant port due to its location at the tip of south Sweden.

The Welfare system of the country is so generous that a registered refugee receives almost to the equivalent of 700 dollars monthly allowance, in addition to a neat accommodation in the growing Swedish ghettos. Moreover, Sweden takes in more refugees per capita than any other European country.  A majority of asylum seekers are from the war torn Middle-East and Africa which constitute about 16% of the population. However, during the recent Syrian crisis when the refugees were freely allowed to enter Sweden, it has been reported that less than half were actually from Syria and a majority were from Iraq and Afghanistan and even from countries which are not at war.

The latest statistics show that more than 20% of the total population in the country’s inhabitants has full or partial foreign background. The country is becoming so homogeneous that not only the words “immigrant” and “refugee” are blurry in it’s meaning but it is also feared that at this rate the Swedes themselves will become a minority in the next 10-15 yrs.

Such an idealistic state with porous borders is perhaps a great example in humanitarian terms. However, sustaining such high morals in mathematical numbers is bringing a collapse of the welfare system explains the economist Sanandaji. The welfare system is currently working on the phenomenal taxes the state collects from the employed. Nearly 58% of welfare payments go to immigrants. Whereas, the biggest employment gap in all of Europe exist in Sweden as nearly 48% of young immigrants are either unemployed or choose not to work. A majority of criminals charged with robbery, rape or murder are first or second generation immigrants. A country that prides itself in integrating these immigrants has clearly bit into more than it can chew. The crime in the country is on a rise, unaccounted refugees and unaccompanied refugee children are absconding, vandalism in the refugee ghettos is unmanageable and police and the authorities are short staffed to handle it all.

And yet somehow the nonchalant Swedes continue with their everyday routines without a hint of worry. Except perhaps that when we arrived nearly a decade ago, everyday discussions often revolved around the subject of fickle Swedish weather, these discussions are now often marred with the incidents of muggings and robberies. The irony is that on one hand Sweden welcomes asylum seekers to soak up the country’s welfare benefits and on the other hand tax payers like us have trouble in getting visas for visiting family members.

In 2014, Danish historian prophetically remarked in the book "Farliga Ord” (Dangerous Words), that the economic breakdown of a nation always happens quickly and unexpectedly:

"If there is any lesson to be drawn from history, it is that what you do not think will happen, does. Time and again. The final consequence of the West and, above all, Sweden's immigration policy is that the economy will collapse because who is going to pay for it all? 

And economic breakdowns, once they happen, always happen very fast.”