How
Sweden's 'child soldiers' became a threat to Norway, Denmark, Finland too
reuters •
August 16, 2024, 01:42:41 IST
Police say
Swedish gangs have in some instances helped troubled teenagers as young as 14
to bust out of youth homes to carry out contract killings in exchange for new
clothes, cash and drugs
How Sweden's
'child soldiers' became a threat to Norway, Denmark, Finland too
Nordic
countries will increase police cooperation and form a hub in Stockholm in an
effort to prevent Sweden’s serious gang crime problem from spreading to Norway,
Finland and Denmark, the Swedish government said on Wednesday.
Swedish
gangs have long been among the most violent in Europe but this year 10 Swedes -
over half of them minors - have been charged in Denmark with attempted murder
or weapons possession, stirring alarm and harsh criticism in Denmark.
Swedish
Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer told Reuters that in response, Sweden and
Denmark would post police officers in each other’s countries.
“An
important reason for this is to be able to share information between our
countries in real time,” Strommer said. “Both to be able to identify at an
earlier stage which children and young people are at risk of being drawn into
these criminal networks, and to prevent it.”
In addition,
a Nordic hub of police officers from Finland, Norway and Denmark would be set
up in Stockholm. Norwegian and Finnish officers are already there, and the
Danes would join in a few weeks’ time.
Swedish gang
members have been hired by Danish gangs for violent attacks on rivals and
Danish Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard said there were 25 such instances
just since April.
He labelled
them “child soldiers” and said Sweden had a “sick” culture of violence not
wanted in Denmark.
Poor
integration of immigrants
“The reality
right now is that not only Denmark but large parts of the Nordics are feeling
the consequences of long-standing failed immigration and legal policies in
Sweden, and we take that extremely seriously,” Hummelgaard told a news
conference on Wednesday.
Strommer
said Denmark also bore some responsibility for its own gangs but agreed with
much of the criticism regarding Sweden’s gang problem.
Sweden for
several decades had some of the Western world’s most generous immigration
policies but has tightened them substantially in recent years after a sharp
rise in crime largely blamed on poor integration of immigrants.
Sweden has
the highest per-capita rate of gun violence in the European Union. Last year 55
people were shot dead in 363 separate incidents in a country of just 10 million
people. By comparison, there were just six fatal shootings in the three other
Nordic countries combined.
Police say
Swedish gangs have in some instances helped troubled teenagers as young as 14
to bust out of youth homes to carry out contract killings in exchange for new
clothes, cash and drugs.
Norway has
said Swedish criminal networks are now operating in all parts of the country.
The gangs’ presence has become more visible, drawn by higher drug prices and
less competition, Norwegian police said in a recent letter to the government
obtained by Reuters under Norway’s freedom of information act.
The EU’s
open borders have made it easy for criminals to move around the Nordic region,
but Denmark tightened surveillance at its Swedish border this summer and began
a more active monitoring of passengers arriving by train from Sweden.
Sweden’s
centre-right government won the 2022 election on a platform of law and order
and reduced immigration, and is ruling with support of the far-right Sweden
Democrats.
The country has taken in over two million people since the start of the
millennium; about 20% of the population was born abroad.
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