Swedish News

Stockholm Rabbi threatened. Increasing reports of age discrimination at work. Fewer expected to seek asylum. Mankell got bag back. Swede arrested in Martinique - had 1.3 tons cocaine.  

• Stockholm Rabbi threatened
  The Rabbi of Stockholm's Jewish congregation, Isak Nachman, has notified the police about anti-Semitic threats. On two separate occasions during the month of July, people have been yelling things like "fucking Jews" to him and his company. “I have never experienced anything like it before in my life, even though I lived in Sweden since I was eleven," Nachman said. Last year there were 250 anti-Semitic hate crimes reported in Sweden. That is an increase of 57 % compared to 2008, according to the Crime Prevention Council.

• The Swedish discrimination Ombudsman reports increasing claims of age discrimination at work
  In particular it is older men who have learned about the new law. On 1 January 2009 the law of age discrimination was introduced. It means that in Sweden it is now against the law to discriminate between people based on age, in employment and training. Already the first year the Discrimination Ombudsman (DO) received 175 complaints. During the first half of 2010, the stream of complaints has continued. In six months, there’s been about 123 reports of age discrimination, 41 more than compared to the same period last year. “It appears that there was a pent-up demand. This often shows when there is a new law,” said Magnus Jacobson, press officer at DO. This year it is foremost complaints of age discrimination at the workplace that have increased. Age discrimination is now the second most common reporting basis to the DO, and has surpassed sex discrimination. Only reports about ethnic discrimination are more frequent. “Most who file a complaint are older men, aged 60 and upwards. They report that they are considered too old to get, or maintain, a particular job," Magnus Jacobson said. He thinks that the reason why older men stand out as a category is because they are not used to be disadvantaged in such a way. Furthermore, they are also good at speaking up and assert themselves. But being too old is not the only kind of age discrimination.. For example, two 21-year-olds reported the Public Employment Service because they were told they were too young to get a start-up grant.

• Fewer expected to seek asylum
  The Swedish Migration Board believes that the number of asylum seekers this year will end at 29,000, and next year at 27,000. That is fewer than the May forecast of 31,000 this year and 28,000 next year. One reason is that there aren’t as many applicants from Somalia as there used to be, the Migration Board writes in a statement.

• Mankell got bag back
  Nordstjernan recently reported that Swedish author Henning Mankell publicly asked Israel to return to him a bag that was taken from him during the raid of Ship to Gaza. Mankell has now gotten the bag back, but when he opened it to make sure his script was still there, he got the shock of his life: The bag was full of women’s clothing. Says Mankell: “I want to know where the rest of my belongings are, and why they sent me women’s clothing.” The only possessions of Mankell’s that were still in the bag were his wallet, and a hat.

• Swede arrested in Martinique - had 1.3 tons cocaine
  A 54-year old Swede has been arrested in Martinique in the Caribbean. The French customs have found 1.3 tons cocaine on his boat. The confiscation is the biggest ever made by French authorities. The man has previously served a shorter imprisonment in Sweden. The island of Martinique is an overseas region of France, and it is located in the eastern Caribbean Sea.