STOCKHOLM (Parliament Politics Magazine) – In recent weeks, a dispersed yet worldwide campaign against Swedish social services has brought together various actors and generated news in Sweden and beyond. When social media accounts linked to militant Islamist groups became involved, Swedish authorities issued a warning about deception, violent threats against social services, and the possibility of terror strikes in the aftermath.
The Swedish Foreign Ministry warned of a disinformation effort in a series of tweets, saying: “This information is false.” It is deceptive and intended to raise tensions and foster distrust. Children are not kidnapped by Swedish social services. Swedish law and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child ensure that all children, including those with special needs, are protected and cared for equally.
Children from immigrant households are ‘twice as likely’ to be removed from their homes
While suggestions of an organised kidnapping campaign are untrue, the larger reality is more complicated.
Certain immigrant groups in Sweden have been fearful of social services for years, and at its core, this is an integration problem, Julia Agha, CEO of Alkompis, an Arabic-language news organisation, told The Local.
They have seen people who believe they are being discriminated against. It is obviously not known whether it’s official discrimination or if it’s simply being perceived as discrimination, but someone’s feelings of being treated unfairly can never be taken away, and they’ve seen a lot of that, said Agha, whose organisation covers Swedish news and helps people navigate through the Swedish society.
According to information released to public broadcaster Radio Sweden by the National Board of Health and Welfare and Statistics Sweden in December, there is twice a chance of social services taking children from immigrant groups into care (percentage of these families being Muslim is unclear).
According to Agha it is crucial the families who are concerned about social services should first understand the law and then follow it.
In simple terms, she explained, it implies your children should be looked after and their needs must be met.
There are certain things that are not as simple – not everything is black and white – and some things that are extremely clear: for example, in Sweden, corporal punishment is prohibited, and if you strike your child, it is considered wrong. That’s oversimplified.
However, more vague cultural differences can cause problems for both families and the government.
In Sweden, for example, the concept of ‘honour’ was extremely divisive, and the argument had almost gotten infected, added Agha. However, because it is so closely related to religion in some families, there are some nuances that are more difficult to navigate.
‘Many people are unaware that social services can assist them as well.’
It’s crucial to address those nuances because it’s difficult to pinpoint a single element that influences such a diverse society.
Around 420 million people speak Arabic around the world, according to Agha, with the only common thing among them being the language and, in certain circumstances, a few cultural features.
One example is that the family is almost more significant than the individual in terms of values. “I’ve read comments that say, ‘It doesn’t matter what the parents do; you can’t take children away from their parents,'” she remarked.
“There’s this idea that the best setting for a child is to be with their family at all times. It makes no difference whether you term it ‘kidnapping’ or not. There is conflict simply because children are taken away from their parents.”
As a result, merely dismissing conspiracy theories as false may not be helpful.
That’s why it’s become so popular, and why people believe it in some sense, even if they don’t believe children are kidnapped by definition. They are aware that children are brought into care and believe that this is unethical, added Agha.
It becomes a vicious spiral, with the result that some of these families may be less willing to cooperate early on if social services feel compelled to act, because they distrust authority and are afraid that Swedish social services would take their children away.
“Many people are unaware that social services can assist them as well. “They’re there to assist,” Agha stated.
In general, social services will offer voluntary assistance before placing a child in care, such as a consultation with family to resolve issues. According to scholarly research, immigrant households are more likely to refuse this assistance. This, in turn, means that there is a higher possibility of their children being taken into care as the situation worsens until the social service has no other choice.
