Sweden to map scope of racism; minister: ‘We see Jewish students’ school lockers marked with swastikas’

Sweden’s government says it is launching a project to chart the different types of racism in society and assess the level of Swedes’ intolerance towards minorities.

Presenting the government’s plan, Gender Equality Minister Paulina Brandberg says she wants to focus in particular on the scope of the phenomenon in schools.

“Racism and discrimination affect Afro-Swedish students at school… young Roma don’t dare speak out about their identity, and the (indigenous minority) Sami are victims of hate crimes,” the minister tells a press conference.

“Teachers say they hear students uttering verbal insults against people because of their skin color, their religion or their ethnic origin,” Health and Social Affairs Minister Jakob Forssmed says at the same press conference. “It’s deeply worrying.”

The government therefore plans to map the scope of racism in Sweden, focusing primarily on racism against Muslims, Jews, black people, Roma and Sami.

Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, sparked by the terror group’s devastating October 7, 2023, attack, has also led to increased racism in Sweden, the ministers say.

“We see Jewish students whose lockers in school are marked with swastikas, we see young Muslims facing hatred and threats on social media,” Brandberg says.

According to the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (BRA), 2,695 hate crimes were reported to police in 2022, of which 53 percent were of a racist or xenophobic nature.