European refugee crisis thread

[Thanas]

Authorities in Passau, Germany, have just openly stated that it is just a matter of time until the first babies freeze to death now.

[Eleas]

Luckily, our homegrown terrorists are keen on providing warming fires by setting shelters ablaze.

[cosmicalstorm]

They might freeze to death in Sweden too.

I would have thought a country could just buy a million tents via international markets but they dont.
The process to build houses seems just as paralyzed as migration politics in general, the goverment recently proposed that cellars and bombshelters and such spaces where no plumbing exists be put to use. But even then a full year (with 1000.000-500.000 arrivals expected) will pass before they can start doing that.

Racists and nazis love this in a way, 20 or 30 houses have burned but some fires might be accidents. They feed on this chaos like they did in the 90s. One nazi stabbed immigrants with a sword last week.

[The Romulan Republic]

If you ask me, the western world needs to worry less about Middle Eastern terrorists and start worrying more about its homegrown scumbags. Right wing/racist terrorism is a thing, and it seems to be a growing problem.

Powerful nations are not likely to fall to foreign invasion, barring a truly apocalyptic event like a nuclear world war. If they fall, it will more likely be from internal weakness and corruption.

[cosmicalstorm]

Swedens foreign minister warns that the country faces a collapse and also warns of violence.
This article is from RT which is a pr-op from Putin himself but the statement is true and was printed in a newspaper called DN.
It's been a shocking couple of months here, up until earlier this year a lot of people still argued that our model of immigration would actually generate economic profit.
But now even leading politicians are coming round to the idea that the current immigration model will be a huge disaster for Sweden.

The world famous Swedish welfare system will not survive the pressure and I wonder what will come out on the other side, what happens with the hundreds of thousands of immigrants living on social welfare if the payment stops or is cut in half?

Swedish politician says country ‘facing collapse’ due to mass influx of refugees
Published time: 30 Oct, 2015 14:22


A leading Swedish politician says the country is facing a refugee catastrophe, which will lead to the “country collapsing.” The bold claims were made by Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom, who adds the EU needs to do more to take the strain off Stockholm.
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EU refugee & migrant influx

The northern European country expects to accommodate around 190,000 by the turn of the year, but this is putting a strain on the country both economically and socially. Wallstrom says that Stockholm needs more help and intends to put pressure on European Union member states to take a greater share of the burden the continent is facing from the refugee crisis in the Middle East and Africa.

“I think most people feel that we cannot maintain a system where perhaps 190,000 people will arrive every year – in the long run, our system will collapse. And that welcome is not going to receive popular support,” said Wallstrom, who is also a member of the Social Democrat party.

However, not everyone in Europe is wanting to follow Sweden’s lead, while along with Germany, the Scandinavian nation is one of the most popular destinations for refugees, due to its generous benefits system.

“I have to admit that there have been moments recently of very great disappointment. I have heard statements from member states that have been completely astonishing and very discouraging,” the foreign minister added in an interview with Dagens Nyheter, which was cited by The Local.

Closer to home, Wallstrom has also highly critical of the far-right Sweden Democrats, who have been “creating fear and are becoming the trigger for attacks.” Sweden has been rocked by a number of arson attacks against refugee centers and the foreign minister says a worrying trend is being repeated.

“We also had fires when we received refugees from the Balkans. This is a pattern that is being repeated. The Sweden Democrats have a responsibility,” she said speaking to the Dagens Nyheter newspaper. Wallstrom was referring to the mass number of immigrants the Scandinavian country accepted following the break-up of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

The foreign minister has called on the Sweden Democrats to condemn the crimes saying more must be done to try and stop the arson attacks. Wallstrom noted that Swedish Democrat activists in the university town of Lund had been spreading addresses of planned refugee sites.

Sweden experienced five arson attacks against refugee centers in the space of two weeks in October. All the buildings were apparently set on fire on the eve of opening their doors to migrants and refugees, who have come to Sweden from countries in the Middle East and North Africa devastated by domestic conflicts and outside interventions.

The Swedish authorities say that, in view of the suspected arsonists’ tactics, they are keeping secret the exact plans to welcome new groups of asylum seekers for fear of new attacks. However, so far the locations of some centers are apparently being discovered or leaked, with 14 suspected arson attacks on refugee centers in Sweden since the start of the year.

Meanwhile Swedish police say a man who killed two people at a school in Trollhattan, in the south of the country “was driven by racist motives.”

The 21 year-old went on a rampage on October 22 with a sword, before he was shot by police and died of his wounds in hospital.

"We are convinced that the assailant was driven by racist motives when he carried out the act," he said. "We have reached this conclusion based on what we found when we searched his apartment and his behavior during the act, and also on the basis of how he selected his victims,” Police Chief Niclas Hallgren said on October 23.

https://www.rt.com/news/320158-sweden-r ... tastrophe/

[mr friendly guy]

Is there any reason why these people would be on welfare? Don't you have programs to integrate them, ie teach them Swedish? I thought a lot of these refugees were from the educated classes.

[Broomstick]

I don't care how educated you are, if you're arriving as a refugee there will be some period of time before you acquire a working knowledge of the new country's language and customs, you'll need to find a job, and meanwhile need to find shelter, eat, etc.

[The Romulan Republic]

I don't care how educated you are, if you're arriving as a refugee there will be some period of time before you acquire a working knowledge of the new country's language and customs, you'll need to find a job, and meanwhile need to find shelter, eat, etc.

Unless one already knows the language, of course. That won't always be the case, obviously, but English, at least, is fairly wide spread around the world (and French, for that matter, has quite a lot of speakers in Africa as I recall).

Also, what do you mean by "customs"? Applicable laws, obviously, are important to know, and stuff that will help you get a keep a job. But unlike some people apparently do, I don't expect a refugee to conform to the dominant culture of the country receiving them and abandon their own except where it conflicts with the law of their new homeland. So I'd like you to clarify what you mean by this.

Shelter and food until you can get a job, though, is going to be a damn near universal problem. Hell, it would be a problem for me if I moved anywhere.

[Dominus Atheos]

The american immigration model has always been built on the concept of the "melting pot" where immigrants adopt some local customs in order to fit in but keep others. To quote Schoolhouse Rock:

They brought their country's customs
Their language and their ways
They filled the factories, tilled the soil
Helped build the U.S.A.
Go on and ask your grandma
Hear what she has to tell
How great to be an American
And something else as well

[The Romulan Republic]

Well, yes.

However, that is not the only perspective on the issue of immigration and cultural assimilation by any means.

Personally, I don't much care what culture an immigrant has so long as they abide by the rule of law. Its just not my business how they think or live their life beyond everyone being equal before the law. However, I also suspect that its pretty much inevitable that people will adopt some aspects of the culture where they live. You just can't escape it. I would bet money that even the most conservative, traditionalist Muslim immigrants in Europe and America have absorbed certain aspects of western cultures, just as I don't doubt that, say, a white Christian American would absorb certain aspects of Afghan culture if they lived in Afghanistan.

Edit: I guess my point is that your surroundings inevitably shape you, but I'll always put freedom of choice first as long as no one's getting hurt and everyone is legally equal. But I understand that others obviously disagree.

[Ralin]

I don't care how educated you are, if you're arriving as a refugee there will be some period of time before you acquire a working knowledge of the new country's language and customs, you'll need to find a job, and meanwhile need to find shelter, eat, etc.

I think that's kinda missing the point that there would (presumably?) be systems separate from the regular welfare system geared specifically at providing food, shelter, education, etc for the refugees.

And even more to the point, isn't cosmicalstorm the one who's always posting hyperventilating fear articles about the specter of immigrants destroying the Swedish nation or some shit? And surprise surprise, he's worried that the immigrants will destroy the super awesome Swedish welfare state?

[Purple]

Also, what do you mean by "customs"? Applicable laws, obviously, are important to know, and stuff that will help you get a keep a job.

Work customs. Different cultures have a very different approach to work ethics, how they treat overtime, how rigidly or loosely they follow workspace regulations etc. Like let's take the most basic example of hiring and firing. Imagine an employee from the EU used to all sorts of protections moving to a right to work state in america where you can be fired basically on a whim. It will take some time before he can adapt.

[The Romulan Republic]

Also, what do you mean by "customs"? Applicable laws, obviously, are important to know, and stuff that will help you get a keep a job.

Work customs. Different cultures have a very different approach to work ethics, how they treat overtime, how rigidly or loosely they follow workspace regulations etc. Like let's take the most basic example of hiring and firing. Imagine an employee from the EU used to all sorts of protections moving to a right to work state in america where you can be fired basically on a whim. It will take some time before he can adapt.

Fair enough. That stuff obviously does matter. Even though I argue in principle that anyone can follow whatever culture they want as long as it doesn't violate the law, some understanding of what will be acceptable on the job is important if you want to be able to support yourself.

Of course, I wonder how many people who live in America really understand the ins and outs of American labour laws.

[Purple]

Also, what do you mean by "customs"? Applicable laws, obviously, are important to know, and stuff that will help you get a keep a job.

Work customs. Different cultures have a very different approach to work ethics, how they treat overtime, how rigidly or loosely they follow workspace regulations etc. Like let's take the most basic example of hiring and firing. Imagine an employee from the EU used to all sorts of protections moving to a right to work state in america where you can be fired basically on a whim. It will take some time before he can adapt.

Fair enough. That stuff obviously does matter. Even though I argue in principle that anyone can follow whatever culture they want as long as it doesn't violate the law, some understanding of what will be acceptable on the job is important if you want to be able to support yourself.

Of course, I wonder how many people who live in America really understand the ins and outs of American labour laws.

It's not about understanding the law but about adapting your self to act and react a certain way. Even if you are fully aware that you can be fired at a whim it will still take time to train your self to being an obedient serf who does not get him self into trouble by accident by making demands or behaving in ways which sound outrageous in the new place but went without saying in the old.

[Simon_Jester]

Unless one already knows the language, of course. That won't always be the case, obviously, but English, at least, is fairly wide spread around the world (and French, for that matter, has quite a lot of speakers in Africa as I recall).

Even if one does know the language, you can't simply walk into a strange country one day and have a job that pays enough to live on the next.

Just finding a job is hard enough in the modern economy; it takes time for a job market to grow to accomodate increased population and in the short term almost all available jobs are already filled.

Add to this the fact that refugees often arrive without resources that are important for someone to get and hold a job successfully (cars, telephones, computers).

And that's on top of the customs...

Also, what do you mean by "customs"? Applicable laws, obviously, are important to know, and stuff that will help you get a keep a job. But unlike some people apparently do, I don't expect a refugee to conform to the dominant culture of the country receiving them and abandon their own except where it conflicts with the law of their new homeland. So I'd like you to clarify what you mean by this.

As noted, it's not that you have to share the culture of the place you're working in. But you do have to understand it. And that part is simply, as a practical reality. Even people native to a country can have tremendous problems holding on to a job if they don't understand or behave in a compatible way with its work culture.

[Simon_Jester]

Ghetto Edit:

Fair enough. That stuff obviously does matter. Even though I argue in principle that anyone can follow whatever culture they want as long as it doesn't violate the law...

The thing is, when we hear 'culture' we usually think of things like art and religion. But it's not just about things like that, it's about the rules that govern how human beings interact with each other.

It's about whether conflicts are resolved through the courts with the aim of repairing damages and deterring anyone from causing further conflict, or resolved through informal mediation systems with the aim of preventing strife within the community.

It's about whether children are allowed to move about without supervision, or are kept on a short leash (sometimes literally).

It's about when it is, or is not, acceptable to do something that bothers the neighbors.

It's about when it is, or is not, acceptable to 'defend yourself' with violence- does it have to be an attack on your physical person? Or does an attack on your 'honor' count? If so, what things count as 'honor' and what things do not?

It's about how men treat women, and for that matter how women treat men, both of which vary massively as a result of differing social customs, but which most people don't even realize are learned behaviors. They assume they just 'naturally' do things the correct way... and for that matter, assume that their way is correct!

In short, culture is involved in literally everything about human life that you can't pick up and hit things with, and some of the things you can. So no wonder 'culture shock' has a marked effect on immigrants.

[The Romulan Republic]

Unless one already knows the language, of course. That won't always be the case, obviously, but English, at least, is fairly wide spread around the world (and French, for that matter, has quite a lot of speakers in Africa as I recall).

Even if one does know the language, you can't simply walk into a strange country one day and have a job that pays enough to live on the next.

Never said you could. I mean, I suppose you theoretically could, but I wouldn't bet on it happening.

As I said, being able to support myself would be hard for me if I moved to another part of my own country.

You know, I'm getting tired of people attributing things to me that I did not say.

Just finding a job is hard enough in the modern economy; it takes time for a job market to grow to accomodate increased population and in the short term almost all available jobs are already filled.

Considering that I have spent much of my adulthood unemployed, I find it incredibly condescending that you are acting like I do not know that finding work can be difficult and need it explained to me.

Add to this the fact that refugees often arrive without resources that are important for someone to get and hold a job successfully (cars, telephones, computers).

Well, I can't help but think that it would be a big help if we instituted a "give every migrant a free cell phone at the border" policy. Cell phones aren't that pricey. Or, hell, we could loan them one and have them pay it off once they get work.

Won't help with the car issue, but its something.

Of course, conservatives/bigots would whine about handouts to the poor/foreigners.

And that's on top of the customs...

Okay, let's look at that.

As noted, it's not that you have to share the culture of the place you're working in. But you do have to understand it.

I agree with that.

And that part is simply, as a practical reality. Even people native to a country can have tremendous problems holding on to a job if they don't understand or behave in a compatible way with its work culture.

Again, agreed. However, I originally addressed this to Broomstick.

Edit: Beyond that, I get that their are a lot of things encompassed by the term "culture". I maintain that one should not feel obligated to conform to anything beyond what is required by law/basic human decency (though I am aware the definition of both these things can vary greatly from place to place), but as a matter of practical self-interest, I would agree that it behooves one to understand the environment one is in.

[Thanas]

Is there any reason why these people would be on welfare? Don't you have programs to integrate them, ie teach them Swedish? I thought a lot of these refugees were from the educated classes.

About a third of them are. Two thirds however have never seen a school in their life and it is those who will be dependent on welfare. Germany is already earmarking around 12 billion € for the refugee costs.

[Broomstick]

Also, what do you mean by "customs"? Applicable laws, obviously, are important to know, and stuff that will help you get a keep a job. But unlike some people apparently do, I don't expect a refugee to conform to the dominant culture of the country receiving them and abandon their own except where it conflicts with the law of their new homeland. So I'd like you to clarify what you mean by this.

I'm going to stick strictly to the faux pas I see in immigrants to America because that's what I know best, and it's not limited to arrivals from any particular region or continent because we get them from all over.

1) Differing standards of bodily hygiene - Americans are obsessed with cleanliness (I know people who shower multiple times per day, for example), meanwhile, not all cultures practice daily bathing or use of deodorant. Now, personally, I don't find that such people smell bad, exactly, just strongly of themselves. For many other people, though, the smell of clean but non-deodorized human being is offensive. This can cause problems. One of the things people counseling new arrivals in the US sometimes have to do is discuss this issue. This also gets into the issue of using cologne/scents/perfume/etc. It's not illegal to have body odor, but it's a problem. (I'm well aware that Americans can also be perceived as overly fussy about this and overly perfumed themselves when traveling abroad). Women have to be educated about how menstruation is handled in the US - what products are out there, how to find them, how to dispose of them in public toilets (assuming the men don't know - public toilets in the US typically have a small plastic or metal box in the woman's toilet stalls, usually attached to the wall, specifically for the disposal of used tampons and pads. Putting such objects, even if wrapped up, in the trash can usually located by the sinks is not considered acceptable. Actually, I've heard a lot stronger language than that used for offenses.) I have never, ever seen this mentioned in any sort of brochure regarding US customs.

2) Our sales tax practices are byzantine and confusing, but since you have to purchase things to exist in this country they are also unavoidable.

3) Oh, lord - bathroom issues. Not everyone in the world uses toilet paper and some, who customarily use water to wash post-toilet find the use of only paper to be disgusting. I know O'Hare airport has had problems with international travelers and the toilets, only partially solved by toilet seats that automatically change their own covers with each use. Also, automatic flushing scares the hell out of people unfamiliar with it the first time they encounter it. Also, see the comment about disposing of used menstrual products in woman's toilets - imagine you have women from all over the world using a toilet, many speak poor English or don't know the words for the situation, they have a used menstrual product and don't know where in the hell to put it in the room they're standing in. The public toilets in a major international hub can be a special slice of hell for all involved.

4) Food issues - which can extend into all sorts of places.
4A) At least once a week I have to help a Muslim customer with the vitamins or other over the counter pills because, you see, most gelatin in the US comes partly or wholly from pigs (byproduct of pork processing) and of course pig is off limits to Muslims.... so you have to make sure there's no gelatin in anything. So... no medicine in capsule form, because those are made from gelatin, and a surprising number of tablets have it as well. However, most Americans are completely clueless about this, being neither Muslim nor Jewish, including doctors prescribing things. It takes awhile to work out which things do and don't have it. Then there's the problem of fish oil and Jewish customers who keep kosher. Hindus and beef products. Religious vegetarians (Jains, Hare Krishna, etc.) and animal products.

4B) One of the few comforts for those under great stress is familiar food. It's hard to shop for it if you don't know the names of what you're looking for in the language of the place you're living. This is surprisingly common, even in people who otherwise know English around here because, oddly enough, language classes seldom cover cooking. I've had a number of folks who want to purchase, say, raw tumeric who don't know the English for it. I've learned a number of Spanish words for food items this way, which is why I know prickly pear cactus and tuna (with a Spanish accent) are the same thing, and nopales are the leaves of the plant. We call it a "rutabaga" but some people from abroad call it a "swede" - though apparently not the Swedish. Eggplants are also known as aubergines. There's also an old joke about an immigrant who comes to America and every day for lunch goes to a local diner and orders apple pie for a couple of years, then moves on. Several years later he returns and the waitress, remembering him, puts a slice of apple pie in front of him. He politely refuses the pie. "Isn't that your favorite?" asks the waitress "You used to order it every day." "No," he says, "I hate apple pie, it's just that that was the only food I knew how to order in English."

4C) Foreign cooking can smell funny, and that's the polite way to put it. Once had a African born neighbor who would from time to time cook some sort of salted fish. We all knew it was coming with the sounds of something being cut with a hacksaw were coming from his kitchen, soon to be followed by the smell of something he found delicious and we regarded somewhat like fumigation. I've worked at various places where certain foods are banned from being reheated in the microwave in order to keep the peace. It's not against the law to eat stinky food but that doesn't mean it will win you friends.

5) Personal space. Some people stand closer together than others. This can be a problem when a person accustomed to lots of space is standing in line with someone used to having nearly no personal space. I have seen actual fistfights break out over this while living in Chicago and waiting for buses or trains or in line at stores.

6) Who can touch who. This is sort of like personal space, but also different. We're all familiar with cultures that allow unrelated men and women to touch with, say, a handshake and those who forbid all touching whatsoever between unrelated men and women. The handshake is still very important in America, and unlike a generation or two ago women now are expected to shake hands with men while doing business. (One work-around is ethnic/religious dress - for example, a woman with a hijab is not expected to shake hands with men even if otherwise it is expected. That would happen only if she initiated the contact.) For people coming from cultures where even married couples don't touch in public Americans walking around practically draped over each other can be very uncomfortable to watch.

7) Who can speak to who. Some cultures forbid unrelated men and women from speaking to each other except in very controlled circumstances (usually with chaperones). This can be a problem for, say, a woman in a strange country having to speak to men while shopping or going about other business. It's a problem for the men who are distinctly uncomfortable speaking to an unrelated woman under the same circumstances, sometimes it's like they're looking over their shoulder expecting male relatives to descend upon them in angry outrage. I've seen women look like a frightened rabbit when one of my male coworkers ask her an innocent question. I think this is a reason some married couples shop only together - they feel safer and have someone to deal with the opposite gender when necessary.

Who does and doesn't live on their own. There are some cultures where the only women who live on their own are whores. In the US, it's quite common for unmarried women to live on their own. This can result in ugly situations. Yes, newcomers might be told about this custom, and they might have seen it in American-made entertainment, but the knowledge isn't always assimilated well at initial arrival. Women walking around on their own can wind up having problem with newly arrived men who haven't quite gotten the concept that women here aren't expected to have escorts and lone women are not available or selling sexual services. This ties back to #6 - no, it's not legal to grope a single woman waiting next to you at a bus stop. Amazingly, American men can get offended over this, too, and will even defend an unrelated woman against such an intrusion (and sometimes they don't - this isn't always linked to culture).

Now, when people come to the US, particularly to urban areas where they already have an enclave of sorts, those who have been here awhile try to guide the newcomers in local custom (there's some variance of all of the above across the US, too - women in New York might kiss each other on the cheek as a greeting, but that would be largely taboo where I live, as an example). But when you have a large influx of new arrivals you can get problems. It's not a matter of malice on either side, but a clash of cultural practices can occur and it can be quite stressful on both sides. One side sees people smell different, eat weird foods, stand too close, and violate all sorts of unwritten social rules by doing things like refusing a handshake and the other side sees people insisting on surgical levels of sanitation, smell different, eat weird foods, refuse to stand near you like you stink or something, and act like they're about to start fucking in public between the revealing clothing and all that touching/kissing/other stuff unmarried parties are doing to each other... but get all hysterical when two men hold hands like old friends.

This is different than tourists, who choose to come to a country for a short period of time. Refugees typically have some coercive aspect to their travel and are now stuck in strange parts, likely for the rest of their lives. They are stressed, and probably didn't have the time to study up on nuances of the culture of where they're going. The new place is strange, and they don't have the option to go back home the way a disappointed tourist does.

Culture shock is a real phenomena and it really does affect refugees. It can affect physical health - there was a problem with some otherwise healthy Hmong men in the 1980's simply dropping dead which was largely attributed to the stress of going from a pre-literate, nearly stone-age tech culture to 20th Century America because of the threat of death in the home country. I don't think the current Middle Eastern refugees are going to have quite that level of cultural transition, but you folks over there have a fuckton of very stressed people arriving and being forced to adapt to a new culture with few or no alternatives. Add in war trauma and the sort of home-grown nativist crazy every country seems to have some of (arson, attacks on immigrants, etc.) and you have some potential problems from otherwise good people who are going to run into trouble over differing customs, no malice required on their part. Even people who seemingly adapt quickly - like the Lost Boys of the Sudan - and are in many ways happy to be in their new home (and, to be frank, the Lost Boys went through a brutal time prior to arriving here, only the most resourceful and adaptable survived at all) can still suffer the effects of mental trauma years or decades later.

[Broomstick]

I don't care how educated you are, if you're arriving as a refugee there will be some period of time before you acquire a working knowledge of the new country's language and customs, you'll need to find a job, and meanwhile need to find shelter, eat, etc.

I think that's kinda missing the point that there would (presumably?) be systems separate from the regular welfare system geared specifically at providing food, shelter, education, etc for the refugees.

The US does have some separate systems for refugees, but they last maybe 3 months at most and largely concern very immediate needs like housing, obtaining toiletries and climate appropriate clothing, and immediate medical needs. However, for food they are put immediately on the same "food stamp" program as anyone else. At least in my state, they're sent to the same unemployment/work counseling place as anyone else out of a job (back when I was in the system I ran into them all the time). Here, they get mainstreamed pretty damn fast. It's why social service agencies and the legal system have translators on call for dozens, if not hundreds, of languages. We funnel people into the system before they have adequate English skills to deal with the bureaucracy.

Language classes for new arrivals are a thing, of course. There's no way around the need to know English in most of the US (a few places you can get by in Spanish).

Other countries probably have other systems because everyone has their own way of doing things.

[cosmicalstorm]

Sweden is now completely filled with immigrants in the sense that no more living space is available. All available space is in use and about 10.000 are expected to arrive every week at the current rate. As many as an additional 10.000 might be arriving every week but nobody knows since border controls have ceased to function.

Swedens migration minister announced today that all housing is now done, immigrants will have to live on the streets, or something
http://www.dn.se/nyheter/politik/morgan ... e-ar-nadd/

[Thanas]

I don't care how educated you are, if you're arriving as a refugee there will be some period of time before you acquire a working knowledge of the new country's language and customs, you'll need to find a job, and meanwhile need to find shelter, eat, etc.

I think that's kinda missing the point that there would (presumably?) be systems separate from the regular welfare system geared specifically at providing food, shelter, education, etc for the refugees.

Heh. Nope.

Guess what happens when you run a system at 160% of capacity.

And guess what happens when half of all the refugees want to move to one country.

[Eleas]

Once again, cosmicalstorm's translations leave much to be desired. In 2011, almost 25000 flats stood empty. There is no indication that this has been mitigated. Just like the area where the now cleared Roma camp stood, that has and will continue to stand vacant and unused for anything productive. Such is life in a country with a population density of 20 per km² (as compared to the average world figure of 48 per km²).

But property rights, of course, are sacred. The machine must be fed. Can't have filthy foreign scum interfering with the sacred right to hold on to empty, useless soil and vacant tenements. That would be wrong.

[Eleas]

Is it about political will, yet? Let's see what an article by Lars Lindström has to say about it:

I have lived in Södertälje for 50 years so I'm usued to multiculturalism. Here in Vaxholm they've sold out all public goods so there are no flats for rent left. It's a veiled form of racism. Sadly, that's what it is. It's easy to say that there are no houses when you really don't want any immigrants.

The ferry from Vaxholm over to Rindö takes six minutes, and by the waterfront in what is now called Rindö Harbor, a large number of luxurious co-op apartments in the barracks have been built and sold. But two of the imposing stone houses have stood abandoned for nine years and it does seem peculiar that they couldn't be adapted into housing for refugees from war-torn Syria or Iraq.

Through the Offices of Migration, the Swedish Government have tasked Vaxholm with receiving refugees. For many years, Vaxholm's municipal authorities have said it can't be, there's no housing to be had. At the same time, the Swedish Government have had several thousand square meters of empty living space in Vaxholm.

I think there are many of us who can't square that equation.

[cosmicalstorm]

Its 2015 now Eleas.

25000 apartments is enough for one additional month at this rate.