Abdullah Waez and other Syrian refugees say they’re too frightened to live in the Swedish woods, where they’ve been offered free housing while their asylum applications are processed. Housing is extremely tight because Sweden is receiving about 10,000 refugees a week.
“We don’t understand why they’ve taken us to the forest where it’s so dark and so cold,” Waez told AFP Oct. 29. “When we first arrived, we were frightened. We don’t want to live like this — in the middle of nowhere.”
A number of asylum seekers refused to disembark from the bus that brought them to the ski village of Limedsforsen, located about 250 miles northwest of Stockholm, saying they want to live in the city. “We don’t like to stay in the woods, it’s not our way,” said Waez.
The refugees’ ungrateful attitude has some online readers furious that they’re demanding free housing in expensive Stockholm, which is difficult for even native Swedes to get. That’s akin to going to the United States and demanding free housing in New York City.
“Then go back to your jihad- and bomb-infested Muslim desert!” one online commenter wrote. “What do they expect? A free royal suite in the center of Paris? The only thing they should hope for is to be allowed to stay in a piece of land that has no bullets and bombs flying around.”
Another commenter remarked, “I live in Sweden. Very simple solution: the ones who are grateful can stay. They have proven they only want a safer and better life for themselves. They will integrate. They will eventually become Swedes. The ones who are ungrateful? The ones who refuse to temporarily live in safe and comfortable ski chalets because it’s ‘not our way’? They can be sent back. Immediately. They are looking for a free ride!”
Meanwhile, Sweden is buckling under the enormous financial strain of Europe’s unprecedented refugee crisis, as Digital Journal previously reported.
Sweden will receive up to 190,000 migrants this year, mostly from Syria — more than double previous estimates, according to the country’s Migration Agency.
The massive wave of immigration, largely from Muslims fleeing war zones and poverty in the Middle East, is putting an enormous burden on the country’s generous womb-to-tomb welfare system.
In recent years, Sweden has taken in more refugees per capita than any other country in Europe. So far this year, more than 100,000 refugees have arrived in Sweden seeking asylum. That’s astounding, when you consider Sweden’s entire population is less than 9.8 million.
Anders Danielsson, the director general of Sweden’s Migration Agency, said the agency will need an additional 70 billion Swedish crowns (or $8.41 billion U.S.) over the next two years to cope with the huge financial costs posed by the deluge of new refugees.
Swedish Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson said asylum costs were untenable in the long term and has asked other European countries to step up and do more to ease the burden.
As Northern European countries like Germany and Sweden bear the brunt of the Syrian refugee crisis, the wealthy Arab states of the Persian Gulf (Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) have done next to nothing to help their Muslim brethren fleeing war-torn Syria.
“Guess how many of these Syrian refugees Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states offered to take?” asked Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. “Zero.”
Related: Tiny German village of Sumte (population 102) takes in 750 Syrian refugees
