Crowds of travelers pour out of the Rinkeby metro station. Vegetable sellers spread their goods at the stands. Next to them on the street there are booths with kebabs, intertwined with hairdressers and small cafes run by Somalis. Many women wear a hijab, from time to time, men dressed in Muslim robes walk around the courtyard.
They all live in probably the most famous district in Sweden. This fame, however, is not a reason to be proud – the name of the district is usually mentioned when the media and politicians talk about gang violence and the consequences of unsuccessful integration policy.
In Rinkeby in the north of Stockholm, a wave of violence has started, which has even consumed hundreds of victims throughout the country and which is getting out of control more and more.
It all started with a group of teenagers, whose parents once left Somalia to Sweden. Most of them were born and raised in this country. There is a few years between them, but they spend a lot of time together – leaving school together and committing more and more serious crimes. Their accumulation took place in 2015 – shortly after a serious theft, in which masked men stole two million Swedish crowns (approx. PLN 763,000) from currency exchange office.
In Rinkeby, the news quickly spread about who was behind it. Some of the younger members of the group got angry that they were not allowed to participate in this action. What happened later launched a chain reaction. One of the perpetrators was beaten, and when he tried to escape, he got a ball in the back and died. Less than two days later, one of the suspects of murder was shot.
Nobody responded for these killings. Two gangs emerged from enemy groups – Shottaz and DoedSpatłlen. The disputes between them have consumed many lives in a few years. They are also considered by experts to be a starting point for unrestrained violence, which today keeps the country in constant tension.
Infamous leader
Fatal confrontations can be caused by disputes over control over flowering drug trafficking, a desire to advance in the gang hierarchy – or a simple violation of honor. In Sweden, it is easy to get a weapon smuggled from Eastern Europe. In many music videos of Swedish rappers-gangsters and social media you can see men posing with machine guns. However, these are used not only in video materials – but also in real life and not so rarely.
Rinkeby district in Stockholm
A few weeks ago in the south of Stockholm there was an attack in which the 15-year-old and his older companion died. Two passers -by were also injured – they were both in the wrong place and time. The police added 21 shots from automatic weapons.
In the infamous statistics regarding the use of deadly weapons, Sweden has already overtook Italy and Eastern European countries, drawing only with Croatia. In the record -breaking 2022, 62 people were killed in 391 shootings and 107 people were injured. The number of victims no longer applies only to criminals, but also bystanders. Even bomb attacks on residential buildings are no longer rare.
Order of order
The first murders in Rinkeby shook the whole area and more. Iman Elmi, the mother of a teenage son at the time, along with other concerned mothers from Rinkeby took the initiative.
– We knew these boys or their families. Pain because of their death and fear that our sons may be next were too great to do nothing-says the 45-year-old in the conference room “Familjehusen”, a social institution in which she works.
After the first murders with other mothers, she founded the “Nattvandring” group. Every weekend, about 15 mothers meet in the center of the district, coordinate activities with police officers responsible for this area, and then patrol the area.
– The idea is simple: as long as we are nearby and stay on the streets, young men cannot commit crimes. They should also know that someone cares about them, that we care about them – he says. Women know where to look for them – they come from the same environment. Every weekend they go to sports fields, to parks, empty school squares.
Election capital
After the first murders in Rinkeby, there was peace for some time. A year and a half later, however, another murder occurred. A man was shot in one of the pizzeria, which was again related to the fight of hostile gangs. However, the problematic district did not end – violence spread to other parts of the country, especially to Malmo and Goteborg, but also to some small towns.
According to police analysis, more than half of all victims of the shootings last year were murdered outside the three metropolises. In previous years it was about 35 percent. Gangs have expanded their activities to the whole country.
The rest of the text under the video material.
Despite the exacerbation of the provisions on the control of weapons and increasing funds for the work of the police, legislators under the leadership of social democrats failed to stop the increase in crime involving gangs. The right-wing nationalist Swedish Democrats went to voters, blaming the problems only on migration and unsuccessful integration of newcomers with society-as Sweden until the migration crisis in 2015 had one of the most liberal immigration systems in the world.
Thanks to such a narrative, they were able to become the second strongest strength in last year's elections. Currently, they are tolerated by a right-wing Conservative Government Alliance, which they have a great impact, especially in the field of migration policy.
More complex problem
Safety forces, however, see this issue a bit differently. The reasons for the increase in gang crime are seen in social exclusion, the lack of integration, the growing gap between the rich and the poor and the strong increase in drug use.
Diamant Salihu has a similar opinion. He is one of the most famous criminal reporters in Sweden and has been investigating the reasons for the increase in violence in this country for over a decade. He wrote several books about Swedish gangs, including a conflict in Rinkeby. – I interviewed dozens of people who had this problem in one way or another, including families of killed or convicted gang members – he says. He claims that the basis of violence is a mix of social problems and political failures.
The Swedish housing policy has contributed to the fact that people from migration environments have little chance of getting out of districts with a difficult social situation. Apartments in city centers are expensive, and the waiting time for them can be up to several dozen years. On the other hand – all those who can afford it – especially ethnic Swedes – have left these districts in recent decades.
Salihu, who and his family escaped from Kosovo to Sweden in 1991, knows this from his own experience. In his opinion Social segregation is the biggest obstacle to the integration of immigrants.
– I grew up in a district like Rinkeby, but at that time Swedish families also lived there, with whom you could make contact. The schools were also relatively mixed. As a result, I quickly learned Swedish and made various acquaintances – he says. From that time However, the social gap has increased significantly. The privatized education system in Sweden means that young people from districts inhabited by immigrants have less educational opportunities than their Swedish peers.
Juvenile problem
This is also associated with another problem. In districts such as Rinkeby, which are dominated by Muslim family immigrant families, apart from schools, children are often sent to religious institutions or taken by parents for longer trips abroad – says Salihu.
These children learn Swedish slower than their peers. – Many of them do not finish school. Some later land on the street, where they sell drugs. There is a risk that they will eventually go to prison or are shot – says Salihu.
For a long time, the Swedish state practically did not intervene In such sensitive districts, such as Rinkeby. From the beginning of the 21st century, both social democratic and conservative governments have cut public expenses, withdrew from social services, and two years before the start of the lethal conflict of gangs even closed the local police station. Since then, on the first pages of newspapers, the topic of gangs and the effects they attract more and more often appear on the first pages of newspapers.
Iman Elmi, one of the women working to curl the activities of gangs in Rinkeby
Particularly disturbing is that Both the victims and the perpetrators are getting younger – many of them are minors. The reasons for this can be found to some extent in the Swedish security policy. In recent years, the authorities and the judiciary have tightened actions to criminals, which enabled the conviction of leading gang members. However, precisely because many of them were closed, a vacuum of power was created in criminal organizations, which was quickly filled with new criminals. They emerged at the top positions in gangs and now a bloody war among themselves.
The murders and attacks on rivals are a quick way for them to advance in the hierarchy. If juvenile criminals are caught by law enforcement agencies, they can count on mild sentences. The acquisition of acquittals in the case of murders in this environment is from 20 to 25 percent. Juvenile criminals usually go to prisons for two to three years. Many consider this profitable risk.
Denmark is considered a model
Already during the reign of social democrats, regulations were tightened to reduce violence. The new right-wing Conservative Government and the Swedish Democrats allied with him want to follow in their footsteps. In addition to several measures aimed at strengthening the police, they are currently debating a law similar to that in neighboring Denmark, which provides for a doubling of punishment for crimes committed in the gang environment.
Five years after the first escalation of violence in Rinkeby, a new police station was opened. It is built like a fortress – you can only enter the police station through a multi -door safety gate, and the building is equipped with bulletproof windows and iron plates covering the outer walls. Like a building building.
Social services are also more and more active in the area. As a result of all these activities, the crime indicator in some “hottest” areas have fallen significantly so far. This weekend, Iman Elmi and other women will meet again at the police safety gate and start their journey.
“If we leave this generation ourselves, violence will never end,” he says.
