Umm Muhammed Umar

A video that has gone viral globally, published by TRT, showed a number of immigrant families lamenting their children having been snatched from them by Swedish authorities. In the video the parents said that they were unable to gain access to their children, and did not know where their children were. A Syrian couple claimed five children were taken from them, the fifth immediately after birth. The stories ranged from children having been taken if they had no food at home, to daughters being snatched for wearing the hijab.

The Swedish government has hit back saying all these accusations were false and were simply propaganda to tarnish the reputation of Sweden. Ellen Hansen, Swedish human rights activist spoke to Radio Islam.

Hanson said that she had not been aware the story had gone viral, it having not received much coverage in the Swedish-speaking media. She said, “This is obviously been going viral in Arabic-speaking media, which is showing that it’s not really reaching the general wider audience here (in Sweden).”

As to why the media in Sweden were not affording the story adequate coverage, Hanson said that the story was complicated, complex, and a very delicate issue. It involved children and child care, and parents’ rights to their children. According to Hanson, only one newspaper had been publishing these stories. She said, “There’s been another case with another girl who was who was taken from her foster parents back to her biological parents, and this has been gone viral here, where she was actually killed.” This has, obviously, had an effect on the general opinion.

The Swedish government has not had the social services go out to investigate, and offer given any clarification. Hanson said, that the Swedish government would start to look into the cases now. She said, “Regardless of, whatever facts are behind this, this has gone viral and, and regardless of the cases, these are the parents’ real emotions and fears and feelings, which should be taken seriously.”

Some authorities have denied the situation being possible, saying that there’s an extensive legal process, and that social services could not just take children. They say that there had to be a court order, and that after some time, parents had a right to ask for their children to be returned.

The video shows Muslim immigrant families of different backgrounds – Palestinian, Syrian, Moroccan – with some reports even claiming that the Moroccan government had written to the Swedish government in this regard. Hanson said that Sweden did have a strong system regarding children, which looked after the children’s needs and well-being. She said, “it was in 2020, ……. after pressures from the UN, actually implemented the children’s convention as the legislation here…. which is bringing a lot a lot of points up on the agenda, to make sure that the system is really looking after the children’s best (interests).” She said, “Obviously, no system is flawless. And it’s impossible to expect the system to be 100% accurate in every single case, but for me, I can’t see these events happening, ……based on absolutely no indications.” She did, however concede that there was a risk that the children were not being “handled well”. Hanson added, “but to say on the other hand, that this is this is a systematic targeting on Muslim children, for example, I think that it’s a very fabricated and one-sided story, but regardless of that, I think it’s important that this is, this is a real issue for these parents.”

Hanson stressed that the issue could nit be ignored. She expressed concerned that immigrant parents felt vulnerable in the Swedish system, saying that they did not trust the system enough to reach out to social services and ask for help because they were afraid of losing their children. Hanson added that social media was a strong force in sharing information, but that it could be distorted information, and so it was important to check the facts as well as the source.