MORE THAN 4,000 MILES northeast of Aberdeen, a similar but much wider conversation is taking place in Sweden, a country that has taken in more refugees per capita than any other European nation.
Here too, rural areas and small towns are making the biggest noise about the immigration influx, citing some familiar concerns: increased crime and sexual assaults, media cover-ups of Muslim crime, and economic burdens. Housing shortages in cities have created an overflow to the country, where vacation resorts and apartments in small villages are transforming into refugee housing.
The Swedes take great pride in their self-proclaimed title of “humanitarian superpower.” The Swedish company IKEA won the 2016 Beazley design of the year award for its flat-pack refugee shelter, and a general mindset of multiculturalism and political correctness pervades the landscape.
But the reality on the ground is far from ideal: Stephanie Heino, a 28-year-old Swedish native, says she used to feel safe walking the streets at night in her coastal city of Helsingborg, population 124,000, but no longer ventures out alone past dark: She’s heard too many stories of sexual assaults.
Heino says it’s difficult to get prompt medical care these days due to the prioritization of more urgent needs among Sweden’s migrants, and the housing situation is a nightmare: She was on a waiting list for three years to get a firsthand housing contract and eventually settled for secondhand: a year-to-year lease in a prefurnished apartment.
As the number of asylum seekers entering Sweden rose from 20,000 in 2012 to 163,000 in 2015, so has the popularity of the Sweden Democrats, a former neo-Nazi party that claims it has reformed itself and campaigns on an anti-immigration platform. In 2010, only 6 percent of Swedes supported the party. Now the party has a 20 percent approval rating.
Despite her concerns, Heino said she does not support the party’s platforms: “I really think we need to help the refugees.”
Kent Ekeroth, a Sweden Democrat representative and member of Parliament’s Justice Committee, says it’s time for Sweden to halt all immigration and move some asylum seekers to wealthy Middle Eastern countries. Sweden’s acceptance rate is the highest in Europe, and those who are denied asylum often disappear before they can be deported.
“Before long it’s not going to be Sweden anymore, and we’re going to see violence,” Ekeroth told me in September after a talk in Stockholm, bodyguards nearby. The Swedish Democrats do not leave room in their immigration platform for the acceptance of persecuted minorities.
This leads to a question that is at the heart of President Trump’s executive order, the rise of anti-immigration parties across Europe, and the controversy that has ignited protests across the United States: Does Muslim immigration present a unique and greater risk not associated with other immigrant groups? Jihadists aside, if an estimated 15 to 20 percent of Muslims identify as Islamist, has Europe opened its doors to a subtle and long-term transformation over time?
“With Islamism, you have religion mixed with politics. We got rid of that a few hundred years ago,” said Magnus Norell, an adjunct scholar at The Washington Institute for Near East Studies and a native of Sweden. “Now it’s coming in through the back door and we’re still trying to get our heads wrapped around it.”
Pierre Durrani, a former Islamist youth leader in Sweden who is now an agnostic, said Muslim Brotherhood adherents pose a greater threat to the West than jihadists due to their ability to blend in and play the long game. Islamists may be a minority in Sweden, but they are politically active, proclaim the right to speak for all Muslims, and are funded by Swedish taxpayers.
Islamists who have made their way into the nation’s Green Party, part of a coalition government, made headlines last year when one member refused to shake hands with a woman and another was seen making the four-finger Muslim Brotherhood sign during a live television broadcast. Sweden may be the most politically correct country on the planet, but more Swedes are beginning to ask questions and cast their lot with the Sweden Democrats.
THE UNITED STATES is far from reaching the demographic tilt that is altering the landscape of Europe: The 1 percent Muslim population in America is expected to reach only 2 percent by 2050.
But in a small state like South Dakota, with a statewide population of only 850,000, small trends can have vast consequences, especially in farm towns with limited resources and fledgling economies. Europe has underestimated the number of Muslim refugees coming in and overestimated the ability to assimilate them—lessons Jensen of the Hatune Foundation says Americans would be wise to note.
The challenge for South Dakota, Sweden, and the rest of the Western world will be this: promoting a much-needed and reasonable conversation about Muslim immigration while also reaching out with compassion to Muslim neighbors. This twofold approach may be the best defense against the deep-rooted ideology of Islamism and the Western denial of its true face.
Comments
narevalo3437
Posted: Wed, 02/15/2017 02:18 pmI live in Greeley, Colorado. We received an influx of Somali and Burmese refugees. the Somalian incoming group has slowed considerably, while we are still receiving Burmese, Karen and Karenni people.
What I have witnessed is the lack of love and acceptance by the Greeley people. I have actually had refugee women ask me why no one will talk to them. I realize there is fear on both sides. Nobody likes to meet someone new, especially someone so different; and maybe you can't even communicate with them.....
I am now volunteering at the Greeley Refugee Center as a tutor. We are also starting a program where we will 'buddy' up with someone to help them navigate the culture and have a local friend. I look forward to developing a friendship with some woman who really wants an American friend.
As a Christian, I see no choice but to welcome them. This is consistent with Jesus' teaching that we should take care of those less fortunate. These people have suffered greatly. Of the ones I've met, none of them are terrorists. They are just simple people trying to survive.
These people have been around very few Christians. We have the rare opportunity, privilege and obligation to show them the love of Christ. People from 3rd world countries LOVE to talk about religion. We have a wonderful opportunity to share Christ with them! It's like we get to be missionaries and never leave our home.
It only makes sense that if we show them acceptance, they will feel welcome and comfortable. This may very well stave off some of the problems happening elsewhere. Who knows what evil we prevent by showing them that someone cares.
My Two Cents
Posted: Wed, 02/15/2017 02:27 pmWe need more people like you. Thank you for showing hospitality to the foreigner.
Laura W
Posted: Thu, 02/16/2017 11:59 pmThank you. We of all people should know what it is like to live as strangers in a land that is not our Home.
Soapbxn
Posted: Thu, 02/16/2017 01:29 pmExcellent article. First - I love people of different cultures, enjoy learning about difference cultures, studying the cuisines, art, etc. My husband and I travel quite a bit and it is the culture, history and beauty across our world we enjoy. Add to that we welcome anyone who truly wants to live in a Republic and enjoy the freedom that goes along with that. Immigrants who love America should still be able to legally immigrate here.
With that said though, Islam is a false religion very antithical to the one true God. Satan is a mimicker and although you can find threads of deceptive truth in all false religions that can lead astray, with Islam we have seen horrible mass violence and terrorism arrise from the roots of the belief system. There is a real danger there and albeit there are very peaceful kind people following Islam, there are still continually individuals, even from those peaceful families, being lead down the violent path. I agree, we need experts in Islamic studies having courage and shedding light on the darkest side of Islam. There are myriads of reasons an individual might be lead down the violent hate filled path but whatever the reason(s) it is occuring all across our world and in almost every country and region, and the object of their hate is the west and those they perceive, mostly incorrectly, to be Christians or Jews. It is not Islamophobic to point this out it, is only reality. And this reality is the reason we need to step up protection and awareness in our own country.
I support President Trump's efforts and the efforts do not make him anti-immigration. Much more does need to be done. We can be wise and sensible while still reaching out, especially with the truth of Jesus Christ, to those that really do indeed want to be here. It does not have to be one or the other. What we have been doing is not protecting our country, and pausing for a period of time to revamp a broken system is using prudence.
VSKluth
Posted: Thu, 02/16/2017 06:08 pmThank you, Jill -- this is a very insightful article. I very much appreciated the views of the various Muslim voice-leaders you profiled. It's a shame these level-headed perspectives don't grab prominence in the public square ... or maybe it is, and I just don't tune into those forums.
Cyborg3
Posted: Fri, 02/17/2017 04:46 amA couple points need to be made. First, Muslims often hide their true beliefs, since they believe lying to the infidel (anybody outside their faith) is moral. A good example would be the Muslim group CAIR which has been labeled a terrorist group by some nations, since they act as a front group for radical Muslims. Second, the demographic realities should be noted that Muslim's birth rate is 3.1 per women compared to 2.3 for non-Muslims. Some claim the birth rate is how the Muslims will take over Europe where Sharia Law will be imposed once the Muslim population becomes the majority! The third point is that there exists Muslim ghettos in some of the major cities of Europe where Sharia Law is practiced and police are afraid to go! All of these points show there should be concern about the number of Muslim immigrants allowed in a country. On a personal level Christians should be reaching out to Muslims and other non-Christians as they encounter them for it is a great opportunity though difficult.
John Kloosterman
Posted: Fri, 02/17/2017 05:47 pmThere exist parts of New York and Baltimore where police are afraid to go. And isn't your point about Muslims lying basically saying that there's no way to screen them, since they could just say they're persecuted Christians?
Elaine
Posted: Fri, 02/17/2017 01:50 pmPresident Trump did NOT ban all immigrants from the 7 nations mentioned - he simply made a temporary halt to immigrants from those nations until appropriate vetting procedures can be instituted to prevent violent terrorists from infiltrating the USA. There is a lot of ridiculous hysteria over this halt that Obama himself was going to apply. The real issue is that the Democrats will not accept the outcome of the last election and are ginning up anger and malice toward President Trump, mostly paid for by One-world people like George Soros and implemented by the former Community Organizer-in-Chief - Barak Hussein Obama.
John Kloosterman
Posted: Fri, 02/17/2017 05:44 pmKudos to WORLD for bringing voices into conversation this way.
"The Christian teaching of loving one’s enemy, even in the face of death, may be the most effective way to battle Islamic extremism."
This. So much this. I note that most of the arguments against refugees, Somali or otherwise, are based on what people "feel." Women are carrying guns, people hear stories, violence "might start happening" (in Sweden, which is already tons more assimilated that North Dakota). It's a case built entirely on paranoia and what people think might happen, not anything that actually is, as the stats on crime and unemployment show.
The only actual facts listed agains immigration is difficulty for housing and medical carem and again, that's Sweden, which is worlds different from America. The only crime stat is of one Somali rapist. I wonder what percentage of refugees that represents, and how it compares to the percentages of natural-born American rapists.
This isn't a question of loving in the face of death. This is a question of loving in the face of inconvenience and fear.
HENRY PATTERSON
Posted: Mon, 02/20/2017 06:45 am"(Lutheran Social Services, which overseas refugee resettlement in the state, refused to comment on the case.)" I think you mean oversees.
Web Editor
Posted: Mon, 02/20/2017 10:37 amThank you. We've corrected it.
CLT
Posted: Mon, 02/20/2017 04:07 pmI simply want to thank Jill Nelson and World for journalism that truly attempts to inform on complicated issues.
I pray for our country as political division and protest divide us more and more. Most of the media reports in a shallow manner what people want to hear. We need fact based information simply explained to have any hope of reaching across our county's divisions.