Swedish academics have denounced a proposal by a government minister to limit the number of non-Scandinavian residents in neighbourhoods as “state racism.”
Ten academics largely comprised of professors from various Swedish universities slammed the proposal made by Minister for Integration Anders Ygeman, who said he would support a policy to limit the number of non-Scandinavian or “non-Nordic” residents in areas so they did not become a majority.
“The proposal is difficult to take seriously, but at the same time frightening. It brings to mind the apartheid system and state racism that would cement and legitimise ethnic divisions instead of fighting them,” the experts said in an opinion article for the newspaper Expressen.
The experts added that the policy of separating people into “Nordic” and “non-Nordic” would reinforce segregation, rather than combat it.
“It is difficult to see how anyone can believe that such a division of the population can be conducive to integration. In fact, it is clear that it rather increases and deepens segregation and distances between people,” the experts said.
The academics went on to claim that the reasoning of Ygeman’s proposal was”absurd” and argued that a successful integration process in Sweden would involve “a mutual, common society building where Swedes of different ethnic origins meet on equal terms and are treated as equals.”
“Integration presupposes a society where no one is considered more or less ‘Swedish’ or ‘Nordic’ than anyone else because of their ethnicity or skin colour, Where identities are allowed to be complex, mixed and self-chosen, not imposed from outside. Especially not based on some state ethnic record that brings to mind state racism,” they lectured.
Minister Ygeman made his comments earlier this month, saying: “I think it’s bad to have areas where the majority are of non-Nordic origin.”
His comments were subsequently supported by Swedish prime minister Magdalena Andersson, who said the idea of limiting the number of non-Scandinavian residents could facilitate integration efforts.
“[E]veryone who lives in Sweden [should] also [feel] that they are part of Sweden, sees their parents go to work. This is how we can also ensure that young people are not drawn into crime,” Andersson said.
The idea of reducing or limiting the number of migrants in neighbourhoods and areas was originally proposed in Denmark last year, with the government calling for limits to the number of non-Western residents in areas to no more than 30 per cent.
Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.