Originally shared by Charles Younger
“Trump’s references to Sweden seemed to suggest that the country’s welcoming approach to refugees and its alleged effects on crime rates should be a warning sign. But were the president’s remarks justified?
“’Absolutely not,’ said Felipe Estrada Dörner, a criminology professor at Stockholm University. His response was echoed Monday by multiple other experts who are familiar with Swedish crime statistics.
“Overall, Sweden’s average crime rate has fallen in recent years, Dörner said. That drop has been observed for cases of lethal violence and for sexual assaults, two of the most serious categories of crime.”
“…Germany, the other European country that took in similar numbers of refugees per capita in 2015, also has refuted claims that the influx led to an increase in crime. ‘Immigrants are not more criminal than Germans,’ an interior ministry spokesman said in June. Overall, crime levels in Germany declined over the first quarter of 2016, officials said last year.”