A sea change in attitudes

It looks like there has been a sea change in attitudes to immigration over the past month here in Sweden. In the face of the gruesome pictures of drowned children in September, those who expressed doubts about open-door policies to refugees were denounced as heartless racists. "Refugees welcome" signs went up and politicians urged us all to open our hearts. We were assured, too, that we were about to be blessed with thousands of highly-qualified and much-needed engineers, doctors and IT specialists, with vacant posts for them just waiting to be filled. Those of us who too a more sober view of what would happening warned that this mood would evaporate within a few weeks.

So it has turned out. The events in Cologne were followed by revelations that similar things had happened in Stockholm fifteen months before, but which had a been concealed by the authorities and media as a matter of policy. Then there was the Ikea double murder and a string of gang rapes and street robberies, and sexual harrassment in swimming pools. The authorities and media have also done their best to conceal the identity of the perpetrators.

The knife murder near Gothenburg last week brought to attention another systematic cover-up. The incident took place in a hostel for unaccompanied refugee children, but when the accused, a resident at the hostel, was brought to court, it was obvious that he was at least 25 years old. This is part of a broader policy, whereby young men are classified as children whilst the authorities refuse to check their age.

The unprecedented flow into Sweden - a population increase of 2% in a year - has overwhelmed the resources of the departments responsible for receiving the newcomers. The point was reached when the imposition of border controls was unavoidable and border checks were introduced just before the New Year. A couple of weeks ago came reports that 80,000 would be deported, and that shopping centres and railway stations in Stockholm and Gothenburg were infested with gangs of Moroccan street children who were robbing passers-by. At the weekend came more reports, this time that a gang of football hooligans had gone on the rampage in Stockholm and beaten up anyone who looked as if they might been a refugee.

The open doors policy is in ruins. Nobody apart from the politically-correct fringe thinks otherwise.saying so and this is reflected in support for the Sverigedemokraterna, a party with allegedly nazi roots which tries to give the impression that it has cleaned up its act - and probably has..

What happens next depends on whether the authorities begin to act responsibly or not. What ought to happen is the the police should be instructed to move-on gangs of acting suspiciously or loitering in public places such as railway stations, or in the street. Criminals caught in the act should not be released if they claim to be under-age. It will probably require changes in the law, which needs to be brought more into line with British practice. If the authorities persist in failing to protect the public, then the thugs will take over and lynch law will prevail. The politicians need to understand this. Unfortunately, the present ruling junta seems to be too stupid to realise what are the choices in front of it.