Locals in the Swedish city of Gothenburg claim the centre of the city had greatly deteriorated as violence, robberies, and drugs have become more common.
In only a week, two people have been stabbed to death in central Gothenburg and now locals are coming forward, claiming the area of the city has become so dangerous, some refuse to visit the area alone at night, Aftonbladet reports.
Local taxi driver Imad El-Saneh, who has worked in the area since the early 1990s, said the centre now has more drugs and more weapons on the streets saying: “It has become much worse than in the 90s. It’s more people, more drugs and people care less about what they do.”
The 52-year-old blamed a lack of police patrols on foot, saying he only sees officers in their cars and described how some of his customers have been robbed near the Nordstan shopping centre where a 19-year-old was killed on Friday.
Local residents Frida Eriksson and Mikhail Ngibun both expressed their concerns over the state of the area with Eriksson saying: “At some point, it will be my or my friends turn to get hurt. To be robbed or raped.” Ngibun said he tried to avoid the area at night entirely.
Thomas Fuxborg, Gothenburg police press spokesman, claimed the police simply do not have the resources for foot patrols and blamed recent problems in the area on the summer weather and the Gothia Cup youth football tournament.
The subject of robberies in Gothenburg was addressed by broadcaster TV4 recently with expert Sven-Erik Alhem advising people to dress as though they look poor and do not own anything valuable to avoid being robbed.
For years, Sweden has released a list of so-called “vulnerable areas”, often referred to as no-go zones, across the country where crime rates and unemployment are much higher than national averages.
This year, some municipalities attempted to have the list censored from public view in order not to harm local investment opportunities.