Many European nations, having seemingly decided that they don’t want a new generation to continue the continent’s culture and traditions, are very open to mass migration. This is not working so well in many places like Sweden. The formerly peaceful Scandinavian country is now facing an unprecedented problem of gang violence. This has led to “no-go zones” in many of its principal cities and towns.
While gang violence continues to rise in Sweden, there are signs that people are starting to push back – at least against drug addicts and undesirables – who are occupying “no-go” zones.
Husby residents in Stockholm’s suburb have taken matters into their own hands after locals complained that law enforcement had done little to reduce the problem of migrant crimes.
Husby is located northwest of Stockholm and is considered one of the “vulnerable areas” in Sweden due to its high crime rates and high unemployment. A 2017 report claimed that there were 61 “no go areas”, 23 of which were considered “particularly vulnerable.”
Aftonbladet reported that residents in the area had complained about an increase in insecurity. They told police of months of problems caused by homeless drug addicts, who would often camp in basements and storage rooms of homes.
Anyone who lives in Los Angeles or San Francisco, for example, will be familiar with the description of some of Sweden’s problem areas.
Locals claim that syringes are littering the streets of Husby. Even the local mosque has been targeted by thieves. Women have been robbed as they visited a local store or did their laundry.
Local criminals have also reported thefts, claiming to be concerned for their families safety.
When the local mosque is robbed, you know that things are bad. You can say what you want about Muslim communities but they do a good job of discouraging this kind of thievery. Some young Swedes, tired of problems, are now… engaging in dialogues with problem people. You can read it carefully and “dialogue” is translated as “kicking them out”. The Swedes used to have a reputation for kicking people out.
Residents, mainly young people, are fighting back against the rising crime rate and have started to meet in the evenings to look for drug addicts.
We have reported to the police several times, but we feel like they haven’t taken us seriously because nothing has changed. We decided to try and have a dialog with these addicts,” said one of the 18-year-old youths:
We have tried to speak to them, to try and get them to stop robbing or stealing. But they are using different drugs and substances and haven’t responded to dialogue. They were armed, and one of them even attacked us. We fought back.
Social media has since posted videos of vigilantes chasing drug addicts. Some addicts have been found badly beaten in Husby.
What’s more, it’s working.
Nevertheless, by the end of July, many addicts appeared to have left the region and there have been fewer reports of thefts or assaults for a few weeks. Two members of an NGO in the area claimed that, while they condemned violence against addicts, the violence had worked to force them to leave.
The NGO workers attributed the violence to the police’s lack of action.
One may suspect that the statement that the local NGO “…condemned the violence” was a pro forma thing, intended to check the right PC box, as they immediately go on to say, in effect, “…hey, it works, beat up a few addicts and thieves and the rest leave the area.”
Sadly, this has happened, whether in Sweden or elsewhere. As it appears, vigilante justice was effective. But these types of incidents happen when there is no civil order or civil order has collapsed. Civil order is deteriorating in these Swedish towns, much like it has in Chicago and Detroit.
Sweden has a strong outdoor tradition, but it still has strict gun laws. This means that the Swedish population does not have much or any recourse to armed forces against violent criminal gangs. Some beatings may work to discourage addicts and thieves, but Sweden faces bigger issues and it is unclear how they will be able to control things.
It’s a bad time to be living in Europe.
