Response to interpellation 2024/25:372 on action plan against racism and hate crimes
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns the action plan against racism and hate crimes. L argues that the plan is already both general and specific 1 and that the government does not need to supplement it since it covers everyone 2 3. L emphasizes that Swedes are not excluded but do not have a particular vulnerability 3. L believes, however, that there may be crimes directed at Swedes based on their identity 4 but sees no value in having anti-Swedish sentiment as a separate section 4. SD argues that the plan misses anti-Swedish sentiment 5 and that Swedes do not receive protection 5. SD considers honor-related issues to constitute anti-Swedish sentiment 6.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)
Madam Speaker! I have been asked whether I and the government intend to supplement the action plan against racism and hate crimes or in some other way tackle racism and hate against people with an ethnic Swedish background.
Sweden shall be a country free from racism and hate crimes. As stated in the action plan, the implementation of the work against racism and hate crimes shall take place broadly and collectively, while at the same time it is important to focus particularly on different forms of racism to capture the vulnerability of different groups and increase the effectiveness of the measures.
Regardless of who it is directed at and who it comes from, racism or similar hostility is never acceptable. The government's efforts against racism and hate crimes encompass everyone. The same applies to the Discrimination Act (2008:567) and the criminal law regulation of hate crimes. This general approach constitutes an important starting point in the new action plan.
The Government therefore does not intend to supplement the action plan in the manner requested by the interpellator.
Tobias Andersson (SD)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer.
On 12 December 2024, the government decided on an action plan against racism and hate crimes. It was a decision that the Sweden Democrats did not participate in or were consulted on. It was thus taken in a so-called three-circuit without our involvement.
The rhetoric was that a mobilization of forces would now take place from the government's side in the work for a Sweden free from racism and hate crimes. It is undeniably an admirable starting point, even though Sweden already today is at the forefront in this area and is one of the world's most tolerant countries.
I do not oppose the spirit of the whole. There is surely no one who, in their political actions, advocates for racism and hate crimes or wants to undermine the work against them. However, I believe that the action plan has missed one of the biggest problems in the area, namely racism and hate towards Swedes. It is therefore not about Afro-Swedes – they are affected in the action plan – but about Swedes with two Swedish-born parents, ethnic Swedes, or whatever definition one wishes to use. Persons who are associated with Swedish society do not receive support or protection in this action plan; instead, it applies to persons who either belong to designated minority groups or are otherwise considered to need this action plan. It therefore does not apply to Swedes.
One can read, among other things, in the foreword that certain groups in society – for example, Afro-Swedes, Jews, Muslims, Roma, and Sámi – are particularly vulnerable to racism and hate crimes. But the word anti-Swedishness or other descriptions of the racism and the hate that Swedes are subjected to today are completely absent. This is so, despite the fact that it is impossible that the government's representatives have missed that a majority of criminals with a foreign background have deliberately chosen Swedish victims because they are precisely Swedes.
The statistics are clear whether one looks at youth robberies or whether one looks at violent rapes. Persons with a foreign background are overrepresented as perpetrators while Swedes are overrepresented as victims. Perpetrators have also, in various judgments and contexts, pointed out and spoken openly about having chosen Swedes as victims, precisely against the background of them being Swedes.
I certainly find there is no corresponding evidence that Swedes would systematically commit violent crimes against Afro-Swedes, Jews, Muslims, Roma and Sámi. Yet it is these who are in focus in the government's action plan against racism, while persons with an ethnically Swedish background are omitted.
Against that background, I asked Paulina Brandberg if the Minister intends to supplement the action plan by including Swedes and thus anti-Swedish sentiment. The answer was clear: That will not be done.
Madam Speaker! I hear the Minister say that it is a general effort, but in such cases, no groups would have needed to be singled out in the action plan. Now, six groups are singled out, as the Minister said, but not Swedes. Either it is specific measures or it is general. One simply cannot pick and choose completely freely and not take responsibility for the fact that a group that is vulnerable, namely we Swedes, is left out.
There are some potential explanations for the actions:
One does not believe in anti-Swedishness within the government parties.
One believes in anti-Swedishness, but not that it exists to a sufficient extent to be mentioned in the action plan against racism and hate crimes.
One believes in anti-Swedishness and that it is extensive, but does not dare to write it out in their action plan.
It would be good to know which reason is correct, Madam Speaker.
Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)
Madam Speaker! That the decision was made without the Sweden Democrats being involved is because the Sweden Democrats do not sit in the government. This is a product of the government and not from the Tidö Agreement.
Madam Speaker! Racism encompasses several different phenomena, of which hate crimes are a part. Racism also means structural discrimination in working life, on the housing market, and in other parts of our society, where certain groups are not treated as others are and do not receive the opportunities that others receive in our society.
When the government presented this action plan, we relied heavily on the reports we received from our authorities, which clearly show what the vulnerability looks like for different groups. One group where we see a particularly large vulnerability right now is the Jewish group. We see a very frightening development regarding that group's vulnerability.
The interpellor says that one cannot have an action plan that is both general and specific. That is, it is not correct. This action plan is both general and specific. When working with this type of problem, there are general measures that can be effective regardless of what type of racism or hostility it is. But we also see that we need to have specifically targeted interventions for certain groups so that that specific problem will receive solutions adapted based on how that discrimination or those hate crimes manifest.
In this work, we have absolutely also analyzed the vulnerability of Swedes. There, we can look at Brå, which is the authority that we see as most important to lean on specifically in this work. We see that their hate crime statistics include hate crimes against persons who are of Swedish descent or who are perceived to be of Swedish descent. But these are not reported separately, which is justified by the fact that the number of reported crimes is so small.
With this said, it is my opinion that there likely exists a large dark figure. Just as the interpellor points out, there are certain crime categories where we see that precisely persons of Swedish origin are particularly vulnerable. Youth robberies are one such example. There we see that around three-quarters of those who are victimized have a Swedish background, while at the same time two-thirds of the suspects have a foreign background.
In law, it is not enough that someone is of a certain origin and that the person targeted is of a different origin in order to be able to establish a certain motive. It is an issue that has become topical, not least in light of the recent horrific incident in Örebro. One must be careful about drawing conclusions based solely on ethnicity. But of course, it is here that figures make it necessary for us to carefully follow what this is due to.
I can also note that the Prosecution Authority has a specific task. They have, among other things, a subject specialist who works with hate crimes. And they have specific hate crime prosecutors - I myself have been a hate crime prosecutor. One is trained in how to identify just that type of motive. It is of course important that that work continues.
Tobias Andersson (SD)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer.
The Minister of Justice concluded by mentioning his history as a prosecutor. I have great respect for this. I can therefore take the opportunity to quote from another interpellation debate between myself and the Minister for Equality, where she reflected on lessons from her time as a prosecutor:
Just as the interpellor Andersson said in his contribution just now, I have previously told about my experiences as a prosecutor. I have absolutely seen crimes that have been directed at Swedes precisely because they are Swedes. One such example is the youth robberies, where I have seen hatred against Swedes as a motive. Another example is the honor issue, where young people are subjected to hatred because they, against the family's will, have adopted a more Western or Swedish lifestyle.
The occurrence of anti-Swedish sentiment is not questioned by me or the government.
I really have no reason to doubt these experiences from the time as a prosecutor. I believe that this is something that many prosecutors as well as others within the law enforcement authorities can recognize themselves in.
I also do not believe that the statistics in this area are representative. We know that there are precedents linked to hate crime motives against Swedes where it does not lead to a conviction. Rather, an adjustment in the legislation would likely have been needed to obtain new precedents that could also have shown in the statistics that Swedes can also be victims of hate crimes.
It is no coincidence that we see an overrepresentation of persons with a foreign background as perpetrators and an overrepresentation of persons with a Swedish background as victims within a set of different crime categories, even though it is difficult to obtain available data in many of these cases. It is often easier to make visible who the perpetrators are in this group than who the victims in the group are. It is even more difficult to make the connection between them, and I understand this.
In light of the Minister's previous career path and in light of what she has previously said in interpellation debates with me here in the chamber, I think it is regrettable that she did not push to include anti-Swedishness as part of the specific measures in the action plan.
My reasoning in the previous speech regarding general measures and specific measures is based on whether one considers that anti-Swedish sentiment is not widespread enough for specific measures to be needed, or whether one considers that it is. In this case, the government has chosen not to include Swedes in the specific groups that have been identified as in need of extra political measures to counter racism against these groups. Swedes have not qualified there, despite the minister herself having previously expressed that she has seen that hatred against Swedes has been a motive, not least in the context of violent crimes.
I therefore do not doubt that the minister himself highlighted Swedes in discussions and debates at the ministry and with the other two parties this was coordinated with. It would be interesting to know from where this was shot down. Who was it that considered that Swedes are not sufficiently vulnerable to receive specific political measures to counter the threats and the hatred that Swedes are hit by daily, when they are chosen as victims by persons with a foreign background based on their ethnic background.
Madam Speaker! I believe that I and the Minister for Equality fundamentally see the same problem. The Minister has personally testified to it in previous parliamentary debates, but it is still the case that Swedes are not included in the action plan against racism and hate crimes. I find it strange in light of the knowledge the Minister has. It would be relevant to know why Swedes were left out. Are we not sufficiently vulnerable in the current situation?
Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)
Madam Speaker! As I said in my previous contribution to the debate, it is not that Swedes are excluded from this action plan. It is about the fact that there are no specific measures regarding just Swedes.
From the government's side, it is obvious that the basis we use when deciding which groups should receive specific interventions is what our authorities report to us regarding which problems exist. We cannot use speculations regarding any likely conclusion based on identity, or on perpetrators and crime victims in different cases, as a basis. Nor can any form of anecdotal evidence regarding the cases I myself have seen in my role as a prosecutor be used. We must, of course, rely on what our authorities report about the problems they see.
It is not only the extent of a problem that determines, but also the need for just specific measures. As I said initially, it is not only hate crimes that constitute racism, but we also see how one can be excluded from, for example, the labor market, from working life, and from different parts of society. There, the picture is not that just persons with a Swedish background have a particular vulnerability compared to certain other groups in our society.
Based on this, I stand by my position that I do not consider it necessary to have any specific section on anti-Swedish sentiment in this action plan. On the other hand, the government, of course, continues to work intensively on tackling hate crimes from various angles. Our hate crime legislation, as is known, covers everyone, regardless of background.
Tobias Andersson (SD)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister for Equality, for the answer!
Then we have been explained that the reason why specific measures are not directed towards Swedes in the government's action plan against racism and hate crimes is that the extent of hate crimes or racism against Swedes is not perceived to be sufficient to justify this.
I would like to try a thought experiment. Both I and the minister have, in different contexts, expressed that honor-based oppression can be linked to anti-Swedish sentiment. That is, honor culture is practiced because one's child, one's wife, or one's cousin has become too Swedish or has deviated to a too great extent from the norms and the culture that the family or clan comes from. This is also something the minister himself has reflected upon. In a response in an interpellation debate, the minister said: "Another example is the issue of honor, where young people are subjected to hatred because they, against the family's will, have adopted a lifestyle that is too Western or Swedish."
This constitutes, in practice, anti-Swedishness even if, in this case, it is directed at people with an immigrant background by people who themselves have an immigrant background. This is an enormous, well-established problem in Swedish society: that people who have come to Sweden continue to live on in the culture, the tradition, and the norms that were normal in their home country but which in many cases are criminal to apply here in Sweden. There, people also suffer from this anti-Swedishness among immigrant groups.
I think the big difference is where it is socially acceptable to engage in racism and hate. It is socially acceptable among many in the Middle East to engage in antisemitism. It is socially acceptable among many with an immigrant background to engage in honor oppression with anti-Swedish motives. It is, however, not accepted in any Swedish groups to engage in racism and hate against Afro-Swedes or others. That is the difference.
Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)
Madam Speaker! I have not personally looked at the recent debate that Tobias Andersson refers to, but if the interpellator has interpreted me as believing that all crimes with honor motives should also be considered to have hate motives, that is not correct. I do not believe that. On the other hand, I mean that there may be crimes in that context that are directed at Swedes based on their Swedish identity and ethnicity.
I have also been clear that it is not only the extent of a certain problem that is decisive, but also the need for specific measures. It is based on such an assessment that the government has come to the conclusion that we do not consider there to be any greater value in including anti-Swedish sentiment as a specific section in the action plan against racism and hate crimes.
With that said, I would like to thank you for this interpellation.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.