Minister and Immigrant Clash Over Child Welfare and โIntegration
Aโข debate has erupted between Sweden‘sโ Minister forโฃ Social Affairs and Elderly Care,Simonaโ Mohamsson,andโข immigrant โคadvocate Inas Alhamwi regarding child welfare practices andโฃ the expectations placed on newcomersโค to Sweden. The conflict centers on Mohamsson’s criticism of parents who do not actively engage with Sweden’s child welfare services, specifically the Barnavรฅrdscentralen (BVC), orโฃ child health centers.
Mohamsson has expressed concern โthat a lack of engagementโ withโ BVCโ is more prevalent among families โคwith foreign โbackgrounds. She โขstated, “We can’t start foldingโ ourselves and sayโข that only if you are justโ toughโค enough or โขangry at society, you can get away.” She also announced a government investigationโ into parentsโ who do not โคutilize BVC services. Mohamsson firmly believes prioritizing children’s โrights is paramount, stating, “This is โa matter โof justice โfor children. We โขcannot compromise onโ children’s โคrights, no โmatter โฃwhat โother interests in โsociety.”โ She โคeven welcomed the possibility of individuals like Alhamwi leaving Sweden, saying, “I think itโค is strange that you wantโ toโฃ live in Sweden if you do not want to be part of โคthe Swedish community and be part โof the Swedish values.”
Inas Alhamwi strongly disagrees withโ Mohamsson’s assessment and feels unfairly targeted.She asserts that her family isโข fullyโฃ integrated into swedishโข society, regularly utilizing resources like open preschools, maintaining โคclose contact with children’s nurses โขand familyโค counselors, โฃand โขparticipating in โขparenting courses.Alhamwi emphasizes โherโ commitment to Sweden,stating she knows Swedish,has studiedโ at โขuniversities,has never relied โคon social assistance,and consistently pays taxes.
However, Alhamwi feels โคthat integration โขis beingโ equated with assimilation.โ “Weโ have always tried to contribute.Butโค we have discovered that we are notโ allowed – unless we first โขgive up our Arab andโค Muslimโ identity,” โshe wrote. She warns that โSwedenโ risks losing highly educated immigrants if these expectations persist,โ stating, “If one day we leave Sweden, it is indeed โdue to pressure andโ suspicions from โpeople like Simonaโค – and then the country โloses both us and the investment made in a whole generation of migrants.” โขAlhamwi also pointed to sweden’s existing challenges with โdemographic development andโ staffing shortages inโข healthcare, suggesting Mohamsson’s approachโข is shortsighted.
Alhamwi further argues that Mohamsson’s current stance contradicts the โvery principlesโค that โinitially drew her own family โคto Sweden. “When we came to Sweden, we got clear requirements: follow the laws, learn โขthe language, study, become self-reliant and contribute to โขsociety – and that is exactly what we have done,” she stated. “The paradoxical thing isโค that precisely these principlesโ – the freedom of theโฃ individual and the family’s freedom – were the same values that once got Simona โand her parents toโข applyโค to Sweden.that she today questions them, rather ofโ defending them, is completely incomprehensible to me.”
