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Columns and Articles by Dr. Laina Farhat-Holzman

March 18, 2017

Sweden Does Have an Immigrant Problem.


President Trump's recent comment about "Sweden, Sweden is a disaster" met with pushback when he cited a Muslim riot that actually did not happen that weekend. It happened the next week. Wrong details, right issue. This was like his comments about the Bowling Green "Massacre," a massacre that could have been, had it not been foiled by the FBI. He is sometimes on the right track, but with the wrong facts. Sweden is in trouble, despite the protestations of outrage by Swedish officials.

Sweden's trouble is exactly the same as that of all the Scandinavian countries (as well as The Netherlands and Finland), all of which have small populations with longstanding culture and values. All have thrived after World War II ended, thanks to hard work (Protestant ethic), protection from the USSR thanks to NATO and US arms and money, and a postwar Europe that had generous and well-functioning welfare state governments. Europe, from its most northern and later extending to the perennially poor Mediterranean countries, has become a beacon of prosperity to the miseries of the Third World: Africa and the Muslim countries, in the grips of religious, climate, and cultural catastrophe.

The problems began shortly after the war, when Europe was in need of working class labor and young families to replace their population losses and modern low birthrates. Governments were encouraged to admit refugees and migrants, which they did. The Dutch brought in Indonesians from their newly emancipated empire; the British admitted Pakistanis and Indians, former colonials. The Germans welcomed Turks from the poorest part of Turkey looking for better lives. The French admitted former colonials from North Africa and Black Africa, as well as Vietnam. Family reunion policies (well-meant) then brought wives and families, and these policies also brought polygamous second and third wives (particularly in Britain) which stressed welfare funds.

The small Scandinavian countries found themselves with the biggest problem: many new immigrants (now a horde) were not integrating into modern, western culture. With Muslim migrants from the poorest failing states (Somalia, Afghanistan, Libya) and from those newly radicalizing into a militant form of Islam, these governments found that the migrants resisted integration and the taxpayers became outraged by the astronomical rise of crime and the expense of welfare.

In an attempt to forestall public "racism," governments required news media to withhold the names or national origins of criminals, thereby hiding that immigrants had caused rape statistics balloon from a few dozen each year to hundreds. Finland, for example, with a very low crime rate, now has a much larger one, thanks to migrants, not Finns. Migrants from countries that seclude women do not understand that scantily-dressed western women are not whores. Denmark and the Netherlands have addressed this cultural conflict in new programs for vetting immigrants at risk of offending.

As for Sweden, they are being threatened and intimidated by the newly resurgent Russians, including reports of mini-submarines and the fear that transnational terrorists may be carrying mini-nuclear weapons. A surprise attack would be devastating. The Swedish defense forces lack helicopter rescue and medical services, and have little budget left from education and burgeoning welfare (immigrant) services to beef up defense. And they are not alone.

Sweden's (and Europe's) refugee problem was analyzed by a successful, educated Swedish immigrant, Tino Sanandaji, a Swede of Iranian-Kurdish origin from Iran. Sanandaji writes that the combination of Third-World immigrants and the successful welfare states of Scandinavia has been a failed experiment. The migrants are 17% of the population with 5% more second-generation. They comprise 53% of long prison terms, 54% of the unemployed, and they receive 60% of the paid social benefits.

Sanandaji was born in Iran, fled the Islamic Revolution with his family when he was 9, and his family became Swedes. They speak Swedish, are secular Muslims, have Swedish work ethic and social values, and he has an MBA from Sweden and a PhD from the University of Chicago. The key to his family's successful integration is understanding western values and having modern views on religion, both needed for life in the West.

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Dr. Laina Farhat-Holzman is a historian, lecturer, and author of God's Law or Man's Law. You may contact her at Lfarhat102@aol.com or www.globalthink.net..net.

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