Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2014 November 30

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November 30

No go areas (Swedish speaker needed)

Hi

I realize I should be asking this question at the Embassy, but none of the Swedish speakers are very active. The article No-go area contains a reference to "55 no-go areas controlled by Muslim criminal gangs" in Sweden and cites a right-wing US website which cites this police report. I do not speak any Swedish, but Google’s translation of the executive summary does not mention that these gangs are specifically Muslim and suggests that the anarchy portrayed in the article is exaggerated. Additionally, Google tells me that the Swedish words for "Muslim' and 'Islam' are the same as in English, and neither word is found in the report. Could I get a Swedish speaker to verify this? Thanks Samuell ^{Lift me up} or _{put me down} 18:48, 30 November 2014 (UTC)

You're absolutely right. The police report doesn't mention Muslims at all, nor does it mention some of the incidents which the Daily Caller cites, such as the police car being surrounded. Overall, I'd also say that it doesn't speak about no-go areas specifically at all. The title is "Criminal networks with strong influence on the local community", which is a fair summary of its contents. Valenciano (talk) 19:18, 30 November 2014 (UTC)

Thanks, I took a further look at the source given and it seems to come from the authors impression that Muslims live in these areas, therefore the gangs must be Muslim. So not sufficient evidence. Samuell ^{Lift me up} or _{put me down} 19:35, 30 November 2014 (UTC)

To be clear; the police report doesn't say anything about no-go areas, nor anything about Islam or Muslims. First line of the report states: "I Sverige finns i nuläget 55 geografiska områden där lokala kriminella nätverk anses ha negativ påverkan på lokalsamhället." -> "Currently in Sweden there are 55 geographic areas where local criminal networks are considered to have a negative impact on the local community". The introduction also states that for the most part, these networks are not well-organized but rather informal youth environments. The report includes suggestions for increased police presence in communities, to build confidence between police and local communities.

The report makes some comments on "ethnic networks" (although this is not a major line of argumentation in the report as such), but minorities in Sweden include many non-Muslims (such as Orthodox Christians, very prominent in some of the neighbourhoods mentioned). The "muslim no-go area" narrative is just as loony as the conspiracy theory that Obama is a secret al-Qaida agent.

In the end, these types of reports (raising a level of alarm) function as tool to advocate for more resources for the police, as Swedish police force has been reduced over the past years. But anyway, if any major city in the US would be scrutized by the same criteria as used in these report you'd have far more material. --Soman (talk) 19:46, 30 November 2014 (UTC)

The Swedish edition of Metro had an article on that rumor: [1]. Basically they say what Soman says, that there's no truth to the allegations. Sjö (talk) 21:09, 30 November 2014 (UTC)

Some sources making a big deal about this, keep talking about the rape statistics. Wile the figures are technically correct, Rape statistics#Sweden and Rape in Sweden explain why it isn't as big a deal as made out to be. Note that in terms of the "exclusion areas" that the source mentioned that these 55 areas allegedly align with, there is some mention of them here [2] and [3] + [4] (in Swedish). From what I can tell, neither source mentions them being predominantly Muslim immigrants. Actually [5] from the author of the latest exclusion zone report make me think it's unlikely they believe they are. Nil Einne (talk) 21:23, 30 November 2014 (UTC)