"The Sweden that welcomed me as a Bosnian refugee in 1993 is no longer. I wish it would come back. We should have come out of the holiday season in Sweden jolly, rested and ready for a happy new year. But we didn't. We should have finished the previous year with a sense of love and togetherness. But we didn't. Everything bad has reached new levels and may well go even further."
"Just in time for the holidays, a Quran with bullet holes was hung on the Central Mosque's fence in Stockholm, while an Iranian couple both assistant nurses who had worked for a decade in Swedish hospitals and their children were slated for deportation to Tehran. In the new year, we are facing an election where the toxic political rhetoric about expelling criminals and others who do not behave and adapt will likely determine the outcome."
A Bosnian refugee welcomed in 1993 recalls Sweden's former empathy and hospitality. Sweden's welcoming spirit has weakened amid rising racism, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia and with the Sweden Democrats dominating political discourse. Political attacks targeted Greta Thunberg for activism while the government cut 10 billion kronor in development aid. Violent anti-Muslim acts included a Quran with bullet holes hung on Stockholm's Central Mosque fence, and an Iranian couple who served as assistant nurses for a decade faced deportation. An upcoming election features toxic rhetoric about expelling criminals and those who do not adapt. There is deep concern and a desire for renewed empathy and democratic repair in both Sweden and Bosnia.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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