The call to replicate Denmark’s discriminatory ‘anti-ghetto’ law is very worrying: Sweden
Geneva – The Swedish immigration minister’s call for a 50 percent cap on “non-Nordic nationals” in so-called “troubled areas” is a textbook recipe for discrimination, incitement and counterproductive punitive measures, stemming from political expediency rather than sound policy. , the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said in a statement today. The Swedish government must immediately and unconditionally cease all plans of such a nature.
On Monday, Sweden’s immigration minister Anders Ygeman told local newspaper Dagens Nyheter that neighborhoods with a majority of residents from non-Nordic countries (immigrants from countries other than Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, Finland and Norway) are a problem for Sweden. – I think it is bad to have areas where the majority have a non-Nordic origin, he says to DN.
As a starting point, the minister proposed a limit of 50 percent for concentrations of people with an immigrant background in so-called “troubled areas”. Using the need to acquire Swedish language skills as a justification, the minister claimed that it is “much more difficult to learn and develop [Swedish] language’ in such areas.
In all cases,
this particular rhetoric – regarding the mere presence of clusters of immigrant populations as the root cause of social problems in these areas – essentially fuels racial prejudice, xenophobia and intolerance.
This line of thinking in turn threatens to inhibit any possibility of sound politics, as it will trap Swedish political parties in a cycle of rhetorical competitiveness centered around who would be tougher on the “troubled areas”.
This is a seriously dangerous, slippery slope.
Once the Swedish government establishes this discriminatory goal as a legitimate one, the implementation of harsh punitive measures in the name of achieving the goal is likely to follow.
To single out such areas and then make the residents feel stigmatised, threatened, vulnerable and unwelcome – simply because they are non-Nordic citizens – is the opposite of integration.
“It is shameful to see the Swedish government slipping into a populist abyss where the identification and targeting of vulnerable foreigners is used for electoral purposes,” says Dr. Ramy Abdu, President of Euro-Med Monitor. – Forceful assimilation, coercion, punitive policies and an approach to “toughness” are never the answer, but rather fuel a negative image of foreigners in society that essentially prevents their integration. Integrating foreigners into the country should be done by offering incentives, creating a welcoming and positive atmosphere and facilitating their inclusion in society and the labor market”.
In a recent short report titled “Racism in Disguise”, Euro-Med Monitor examined the alleged benefits of Denmark’s “ghetto list” and concluded that since its inception in 2010, the list has been part of the problem and not the solution. Given the flawed and discriminatory criteria that disproportionately target individuals of non-European ethnicity, it is clear that
with its heavily punitive and counterproductive policies and highly stigmatizing name, the “ghetto list” only fuels existing xenophobia, racial prejudice and intolerance against vulnerable minorities.
Denmark’s “anti-ghetto law” aims to reduce the number of people of “non-Western origin” in designated “vulnerable areas” to less than 30 percent, through evictions, double sentencing, over-policing and compulsory kindergarten. The rhetoric involved and the associated policies create fear, uncertainty, mistrust and resistance among the groups it targets, and contravene the European Convention on Human Rights and EU laws on the right to non-discrimination, equality, and adequate housing, as well as the right to equality before the law and equal treatment before the courts.