NY Times
In Stockholm and other towns and cities last week, bands made up mostly
of young immigrants set buildings and cars ablaze in a spasm of
destructive rage rarely seen in a country proud of its normally
tranquil, law-abiding ways.
The disturbances, with echoes of urban eruptions in France in 2005 and
Britain in 2011, have pushed Sweden to the center of a heated debate
across Europe about immigration and the tensions it causes in a time of
deep economic malaise.
The riots, now subsiding, have produced less damage than the earlier
ones in Paris and London, which also involved mostly immigrants. But the
unrest has shaken Sweden, which has a reputation for welcoming
immigrants and asylum seekers, including those fleeing violence in
countries like Iraq, Somalia and Syria, and regularly ranks in surveys
as one of the world’s happiest places.
“I don’t know why anybody would want to burn our school,” Ms. Bromster
said. “I can’t understand it. Maybe they are not so happy with life.”