From clash to dialogue ” “

Husby is a poor suburb of Stockholm, with over 11 thousand inhabitants. There, since last week, nights have been marked by violence, by the destruction of cars and buildings. Apparently, the riots don’t seem to have a face, a name, or a reason. But the reasons are self-evident. Fr. Fredrik Emanuelson Omi, Episcopal vicar for the diocese of Stockholm, spoke with Sarah Numico for SIR Europe about the new “revolt of the suburbs”.What’s happening?”It all began in a quarter of Stockholm, Husby, where a group of young people torched cars, damaged buildings, and then the riots extended across various neighbourhoods in the suburbs of Stockholm, with cars set ablaze and damaged. It is difficult at this time to make an analysis on the causes of the turmoil. Police say the first few nights were the most violent, but now, in spite of a recurrence of these episodes, violence has considerably decreased. Of course, the Swedish media are filled with comments and analysis in the attempt to understand these young people and identify what has driven them to carry out these acts of violence. It signals a lack of integration or at least the incapacity to address this issue as it should have. Even those working in the neighbourhoods where the riots took place say that many of the young people they encounter are injured, and that many young rioters don’t live in that area of town, which may indicate that there are also forms of vandalism coming from the outside that is bound to add on to the confusion and troubles”.How are the Churches reacting to all this? “In Sweden the Council of Christian Churches is actively present. There are some 30 member Churches, which include the Catholic Church. In this framework, notably with free Churches, we do our utmost to show our presence in those neighbourhoods by giving moral support, meeting people, but even only by just being there, as part of an ecumenical effort in this area. Husby is in the centre of a quarter where segregation is evident. We do much talk of integration. It’s a challenge we always highlight, every time we have the possibility of letting our voices be heard. It appears that in the city’s neighbourhoods segregation is mounting, conversely to what is said about integration, which in concrete terms is hard to implement”.  Do you also meet the youths?”Of course we do. Violence and devastation take place at night; people living there and couples with children that age need to talk about what’s happening. Even though they are living in difficult situations, the message is to tone down aggressive statements that prevent dialogue and understanding”.Who are these young people?”It’s hard to understand. A few days before the clashes began, one night in Husby the police killed a 67-year-old man. This murder triggered what was to happen later. Initially there was a clash between young people and the police, the authorities. Now tension is mounting. It’s spreading across other areas of the city and in other areas of Sweden, although with not the same amount of violence as in Stockholm. A few of these young people were arrested, and according to the press many of them were uncensored. But there are also groups of young people who address this situation without acts of violence. They seek to improve the situation with initiatives of encounter and dialogue throughout the neighbourhood. There is major involvement on the part of youths who want give a positive contribution. Sweden is a greatly secularised country, but it’s also a country that gives pre-eminent value to democracy. Thus especially the youth feel the need to play an active role to  make things better”.What does Husby represent in the future of Stockholm and Sweden?  “Elections will take place next year and political parties are drawing up their programmes. An item on the political agenda is employment, youth employment in particular. Unemployment rates are the same as in the rest of Europe, especially in Husby, where the youth are isolated and feel they are not involved in any way. It becomes evident that surging unemployment goes hand in hand with a pessimistic, desperate view of the future. Politicians have been visiting the neighbourhood and speaking with people to understand what is the best thing to do”.