Ukrainian refugees in Poland are reportedly hesitant to get on buses to Sweden, fearing their children may be taken from them by Swedish social services and expressing concerns over shootings.
Jimmy Hemmingsson, a Swede from the municipality of Stenungsund who travelled down to Poland with a bus to help Ukrainian refugees come to Sweden, claimed he had great difficulty filling seats as few Ukrainians want to make the trip to the generous welfare state.
According to Hemmingsson, many of the refugees have expressed concerns over Sweden’s high levels of fatal shootings and gun crime, which are among the highest in Europe.
Indeed, fatal shootings have remained near record highs for the last several years.
Some have also expressed concerns that their children may be taken from them by Swedish authorities and do not want to take the risk of being separated from their children, Sveriges Radio reports.
“There are a lot of rumours spreading. People are vulnerable, they hear one thing and then it becomes a reality,” Hammingsson said.
The rumours come just a month after videos spread across Arabic-language social media accounts that claimed Swedish authorities were kidnapping Muslim children and separating them from their parents.
The allegations were also printed in media outlets in the Middle East, which prompted the Swedish government to deny the allegations. The stories were also promoted by radical Islamist Imams and the Muslim Nyans Party, which has stated it wants Muslims to be given “special minority” status in Sweden.
Despite the rumours, many Ukrainian refugees have come to Sweden since the outbreak of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last month. In one case, however, a group of women claimed men had repeatedly tried to break into their living quarters.
“I don’t want to live here because I am afraid,” one refugee told Swedish media and added, “It’s not too dangerous like in my country, but it is dangerous too.”