The offer reflects the radical transformation in the Scandinavian country’s once open attitude to newcomers
Over the years, my mother and I have developed a system for handling whatever political storm is blowing through Sweden. She calls me — often breathless, sometimes panicked — after seeing a news segment or reading a headline about a new proposal targeting immigrants, and I reassure her. I tell her it’s only political theater, that it will never pass into law, and that it doesn’t apply to us. We may be immigrants, yes, but we are immigrants with Swedish passports, with permanent residence rights long since secured. We are citizens, in every legal and literal sense of the word — even though we were once Iraqi refugees. I tell my mother repeatedly that she has nothing to fear, but my words have no effect.
When a proposal appeared on the news earlier this year, one that would allow authorities to revoke the citizenship of immigrants under extraordinary conditions, I told her again: This will never pass a vote. It’s illegal, and Sweden would never do this. But as the proposal went from headlines to gaining political momentum, I felt a different kind of fear set in. The measure was described as targeting only “serious offenders,” and it would require changing the constitution. But once a state grants itself the power to unmake a citizen, the line can always be moved.
MORE:
https://newlinesmag.com/reportage/the-unraveling-of-swedens-great-society/