Donald Trump may have been ridiculed for suggesting there had been an immigration-related security incident in Sweden last weekend, but it can’t be too long before there actually is one.
In consequence of the migrant crisis last year, Sweden received a record 163,000 applications for asylum. Based on data from the Swedish employment agency and the Swedish migration authority, Migrationsverket, it is apparent that only 494 of these people are currently employed. Despite government assurances that immigrants would contribute to the economy, there has been an endemic failure to achieve any kind of meaningful integration of new arrivals. Some cities, such as Malmo, are becoming characterised by urban ghettoisation, gang violence and joblessness.
There is no minimum wage in Sweden, but many workplaces have collective union agreements that set minimum wages. For unskilled work in restaurants, for example, the effective minimum wage is about £10 an hour. A two-tier labour market is developing, leaving migrants out in the cold. Unemployment is about 4 per cent, but among immigrants, it’s around 22 per cent. Only the Netherlands has a higher differential.
Islamic State recruiters are believed to be using employment agencies in Malmo as recruiting centres for the terror group. Sweden’s policy of welcoming so many migrants without being able to integrate them may prove to be catastrophic and Donald Trump’s gaffe may actually prove to be prophetic.
