Hi! Long time lurker here who felt compelled to write a slightly OT post re Sweden.
This time last year I still lived in the UK and was in the middle of organising a very sudden move back to my native Sweden for my Swedish/British family (because of the upcoming EU ref). At that time, Sweden was in the news a lot, and not in a positive way. I saw several Mumsnet posters say that they would never let their daughters go to Sweden because of how dangerous it was. I was angry, but also a bit scared. What if it really was as bad as everyone seemed to think it was?
Because moving in with family wasn’t an option, and because we didn’t have any proof of income we were quite limited with regards to finding somewhere to live. We managed to get a flat in a rural area which happens to have the third highest number of refugees per capita in Sweden. I think at least 10% of people here are refugees. There was an asylum home across the street (closed now because of decreased demand).
I can come up with one complaint about all the refugees we have met: they tend to offer my toddler chocolate or sweets (just like the typical MIL), which I would rather avoid for health reasons. In general they are very generous and happy to talk to us. Those dangerous rapist and terrorist men always smile and wave at my son and are always the first to help me with the buggy on the bus. I have met Syrian women who worked as DJs and solicitors in pre-war Syria (with brothers and husbands who are tradesmen, so not from some kind of cultural elite). Some refugees who did work experience for a local contractor had a Learn Swedish CD on in the background while working. When we went to a beach, a big asylum home were there on a day out. Quite a few Swedish teenage girls in bikinis were there. 0 cases of sexual harassment occurred.
These are just my experiences and I know that others will have had negative encounters with refugees, but I am so sick of the ”look at what is happening in Sweden” thing. We are still here and our society is not on the brink of collapse. I wish we could have an open discussion about problems with integration and misogyny in other cultures without the obvious conclusion being ”Build the wall!”.