The United Nations has criticised Sweden for an increase in children being detained, as statistics from the Swedish prosecutor’s office have revealed.
In Sweden, the detainment of a minor is generally only used when no other solutions are available to the authorities but despite this, there has been a rise in the number of arrests followed by detainment over the last year, Sveriges Radio reports.
The Ombudsman for Children (BO) says that they hope the situation will change, noting a report which stated: “When we met children in 2013, they were isolated for 22 or more of the 24 hours of the day; that is to be equated to torture according to the UN.”
Youth Prosecutor Sara Stolper told Sveriges Radio: “In cases where an arrest is needed, it is precisely in cases where there is a young person who can influence the investigation, then there is often no alternative to guaranteeing that a person does not contact fellow suspects or witnesses.”
Sweden has seen several high profile criminal cases involving underage suspects, including that of a 15-year-old Afghan migrant who was found guilty of attempted murder in December last year.
The Afghan teen was sentenced to a year in juvenile care to be followed by deportation after he requested to be allowed to return to his native Afghanistan.
A 2018 study from the Swedish Work Environment Authority also revealed that Swedish schools have become rife with violent crime. The study found that between 2012 and 2017, violent incidents in primary and secondary schools had doubled.
In the first ten months of 2018 alone, the study found 544 reports of violent incidents compared to 474 for the period during the previous year.
Last month, it was revealed that the Swedish government would be increasing the pay for teachers working in so-called “vulnerable areas”, commonly referred to as no-go zones.
The increase in “danger pay” is designed to encourage teachers to work in the areas which have higher crime rates and unemployment rates than the national average.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.