Violence increases in Sweden and they seek to toughen penalties. It is considered one of the calmest countries in the world.
For a long time now Sweden It is considered one of the most calm and peaceful of the world. However, this good reputation is being affected by the increase in crime. The most important cities in the country are suffering from shootings and explosions by criminal gangs and now it is beginning to spread to the outskirts.
In Upplands-Bro, located half an hour from the capital of SwedenStockholm, they come breaking loose shootings and attacks against the houses in the area. This is something that has generated concern and fear in the inhabitants, who maintain that they have been awakened by the explosions. “It’s something we’re aware of, something we talk about a lot. We are afraid“said Anna Petterson, who lives there with her children.
However, this moved beyond vulnerable and low-income areas. So far, more than 50 people have died due to shootings and there were more than 140 explosions. At first, it was a rivalry between young criminal gangs, but this began to escalate levels.
Sweden gang violence
Photo: Euronews
Violence on the rise in Sweden: how it started
According to Nils Duquet, a firearms researcher at the Flemish Peace Institute in Brussels, it all started as a dispute to defend their territory, but now the problem is the arms trafficking and armed violence. In that sense, he maintained that these are no longer “street criminals”, but gangs that have connections with more dangerous criminals.
Evin Cetin, a lawyer who has represented these young people in Swedenexplained that these gangs usually recruit children from 13 or 14 years old in exchange for money and clothes. Furthermore, he stated that these same young people are the ones who later traffic illegal drugs in the country.
The solution that the neighbors found
The situation is already such that the inhabitants of the areas where these crimes occur have decided to do “street patrolsLibaane Warsame, who lives north of Stockholm, in Jarva, revealed that her 19-year-old son died during a street shooting in 2020.
For that reason, he decided to go out and patrol the streets so that young people do not make the decision to join a gang because they do not have a job.
As for the Government, the Swedish Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson, admitted that Sweden is the only country in Europe that is experiencing this type of violence and promised that it will seek to toughen penalties for deadly violence.
Likewise, they believe that the increase in criminal gangs in the country is related to the Swedish immigration policies since foreignization and lack of integration combined with the mixture of substances causes problems. For that reason, they want to tighten access for immigrants who are not from the Soviet Union.
Source: Ambito
