What does Trump's claim about migrant crime tell us about Sweden?
Swedish authorities probably don鈥檛 hold their breath for a mention from President Trump every time he approaches a platform. Last Saturday night, at a rally in Florida, they got an unpleasant surprise.
Sweden鈥檚 refugee commitment, which saw the country take in about 160,000 foreigners in 2015, was causing 鈥減roblems like they never thought possible,鈥� claimed Mr. Trump.
鈥淗ere's the bottom line,鈥� he said, . 鈥淲e've got to keep our country safe. You look at what's happening. We've got to keep our country safe.鈥�
The question of what the president was referring to, exactly, when he told the crowd to look 鈥渁t what鈥檚 happening last night in Sweden,鈥� unraveled later.
Mr. Trump, White House press officials clarified, had seen a Friday-night Fox News interview with documentary filmmaker Ami Horowitz, who claimed that Sweden鈥檚 acceptance of migrants and refugees had led to 鈥渘o-go zones鈥� where police rule gave way to sharia law, as well as an 鈥渁bsolute surge in both gun violence and rape,鈥� according to FactCheck.org.
The episode shined light on a narrative emerging from far-right media sources that links the influx of migrants with a wave of sexual or violent crimes 鈥� one abetted by Swedish authorities who deny or cover them up out of fidelity to 鈥減olitical correctness鈥� 鈥� even as researchers dismiss the notion of a crime wave.
, official data on rape and a range of crimes from fraud to violent crimes like assault bear out no clear correlation to the increased presence of asylum-seekers, with rates fluctuating slightly 鈥� in both directions 鈥� in recent years.
鈥淲hat we鈥檙e hearing is a very, very extreme exaggeration based on a few isolated events, and the claim that it鈥檚 related to immigration is more or less not true at all,鈥� Stockholm University criminologist Jerzy Sarnecki told the Globe and Mail last May.
Historically, migrants in Sweden do commit crimes at a higher rate than native-born Swedes 鈥� unlike in the United States, where the reverse is true. But a 2013 analysis he led found that most of the difference is attributable to income and the neighborhood where people lived.
That might put incidents like Monday night鈥檚 riots in Rinkeby, a largely immigrant suburb of Stockholm, in a different light. But many Swedes do perceive a link between migrants and criminality: that 鈥渞efugees in our country are more to blame for crime than other groups.鈥�
That, combined with t that have capitalized off of anti-migrant feeling, may explain why Trump鈥檚 comments touched a nerve with Sweden鈥檚 traditional political authorities.聽
鈥淲e are used to seeing the president of the U.S. as one of the most well-informed persons in the world, also well aware of the importance of what he says,鈥� Carl Bildt, a former prime minister of Sweden, . 鈥淎nd then, suddenly, we see him engaging in misinformation and slander against a truly friendly country, obviously relying on sources of a quality that at best could be described as dubious.鈥�
