Progressive, happy Sweden has long been a haven for refugees, accepting Jews, Eastern Europeans and Bosnians from Europe’s 20th century conflicts and hundreds of thousands more people from the current migrant crisis. Last year, while other EU states debated sending Syrians back to Turkey, Sweden single-handedly took in over 160,000 people. But not all Swedes are happy with their reputation as a humanitarian superpower.
A angry minority of far-right Swedes have lashed out against thegovernment’s open-door policy. At least 64 active or planned refugee centers and housing facilities (map) were set on fire from June 2015 to April 2016, according to The Local Sweden, which combined police data with reports from newspaper Svenska Dagbladet. In some cases, buildings were set ablaze just one day after authorities announced they would be used to house refugees.
To understand what’s going on with their usually peaceful neighbors, Danish photographers Jonas Fogh and Sofia Busk spoke with members and supporters of Sweden’s anti-immigration groups, including the Swedish Democrats, Nordic Youth and Nordic Resistance Movement. Interviewed from June to Nov. 2015, these are the Swedes who would willingly destroy Sweden’s tolerant, utopian reputation:
“Sweden will stop being Swedish.”
