A group of migrant-background residents of Malmö have formed a “resistance” group to fight “everyday racism” in response to the success of the anti-mass migration Sweden Democrats in the Swedish national elections.
“Welcome to the Resistance” claims to be a grassroots movement which has been organised by several people including local resident Miriam Negash who said the purpose of the “resistance” is to support migrant-background residents, immigrants, and asylum seekers who have suffered from racism, Sydsvenskan reports.
At their first meeting on Sunday, hundreds attended a demonstration at a square in the heavily migrant-populated area of Möllevången chanting slogans such as “All Malmö hates racists”, and “The city, the country, everything is ours”.
The demonstration also had several signs in Arabic, alongside Swedish. Due to mass migration, Arabic has become one of the most popular languages in Swedish language schools, with demand for Arabic lessons surpassing French and English.
Negash added that the movement is not formally tied to any existing groups or political parties and said: “We are many in Malmö, over 30 percent. We shouldn’t have to go and be afraid of the streets.”
The new movement comes only months after Palestinian migrant Hussam Alkoblawi formed a migrant-led political party in Malmö.
“I have been in Sweden for 30 years and have followed developments in Swedish society since then. I see all the differences that have arisen and we notice that recently the gap between foreign and Swedish citizens has grown bigger,” Alkoblawi said.
The migrant population in many Swedish cities continues to grow as mass migration has been revealed as the major factor in Sweden’s growing population overall.
In some areas of the country, migrant-background residents are now a majority, such as the municipality of Södertälje which has had recent problems with individuals stealing or destroying LGBT pride flags that were flown by the local government.
Mass migration has also seen an impact in the Swedish legal system after two “lay judges” from Muslim backgrounds used Sharia law principles in a case that saw a man accused of domestic abuse found not guilty because he came from a “good family” while his accuser did not.
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