Swedish child soldiers are exported: “Incredibly dangerous”

Denmark’s Minister of Justice Peter Hummelgaard (S) spoke earlier this week to TV2, saying he was “really, really angry” that Swedish citizens had been recruited to carry out acts of violence on the other side of the bridge.

Since last spring, 25 young Swedes have been recruited via social media to commit crimes in Denmark, and next week Sweden’s Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer (M) will travel to Copenhagen for a meeting with his Danish counterpart.

SVT reporter Diamant Salihu has long covered the Swedish gangs, and says the following about the latest developments in Scandinavia:

– There is obviously an abundance of young people who have some kind of death wish who actively seek this environment, and who are ready to take this risk with twice as harsh punishments in Denmark.

– The reason for that is that we have a very radicalized gang environment in Sweden, and a normalization that you can use lethal force just because someone liked someone else’s picture, for example. That is such an incredibly low level for lethal violence to be accepted.

Recruiting on social media

The Danish Minister of Justice calls the young Swedes who are recruited by Danish gangs child soldiers, a term that Salihu thinks is reasonable to use.

He says that Sweden has had this problem for several years, and that it is time for everyone involved to investigate.

– We have to think about how we got into this situation. We send experts to African countries to deal with child soldiers there, but what do we do with our own child soldiers who are also placed in various institutions and come back after three, four years and have to be reintegrated into society. How do we reintegrate them? The concept of child soldiers is exactly what it is about.

He says that recruitment often takes place on social media, where “jobs” are advertised.

– And that way you get answers from many fragile individuals who sometimes don’t even ask for payment. They want to do it to make a name for themselves, which says a lot about this radical environment.

“Incredibly dangerous condition”

Norwegian authorities have also raised the alarm about the widespread gang crime from Sweden, and at the beginning of July four Swedish citizens with connections to Shottaz, which has its base in Stockholm, were arrested.

Diamant Salihu says that the neighboring countries’ concerns are justified, that it is an “incredibly dangerous” situation they have found themselves in, and that the Scandinavian countries should join forces to fight the gang leaders, who are often in other countries.

– We need to return to some kind of more normalized crime where this brutal violence is not used, and I think we can turn it around when we all understand that this is very serious and urgent.