DN Debate. We have far too many våldsbejakande extremists

The våldsbejakande extremism is on the rise in Sweden. The last few years, several parts of the country including Gothenburg – been forced to face the rampaging nazis, right-wing bombings, the offensive vänsterautonoma movements, grossly anti-semitic violence, and the high level of activity from islamic extremists – not least with the link to the terrorsekten ICE. For the part problems have become so big that sharp measures against extremism are now a key factor to ensure a positive development in the whole city.

Two reports published in the summer, from the Expo/Sergerstedtinstitutet about white power environments, as well as from the Swedish national defence college on the radical and våldsbejakande islamic environments, confirms the increasingly difficult threat. Also Säpos statistics, from 2017, is worrying. From 2010 have included a couple of hundred people have the våldsbejakande extremistmiljöerna in Sweden has grown to about 3 000 so-called hotaktörer. Of them are more than 2,000 islamic extremists. The other is in the white power environment and autonomous environments. After the attack on Drottninggatan shopping street in Stockholm, sweden in 2017, informed the Fbi recently that, in 2018, thwarted at least two terror attacks.

When the Fbi, in its yearbook summed up in 2017 was concluded that Sweden had landed in a new normal where the security is worse and the threats greater than in a very long time. When the Fbi soon should sum 2018 talking probably nothing that the situation would have improved. I am convinced that the secret service is doing a good job. But it is very difficult to handle such large extremistmiljöer. There is now a real danger of a new terrorist attack

To reduce this risk is not the only motive to act more forcefully against the våldsbejakande the extremists. With the rise in extremism also complies with other social problems such as more crime, higher tensions, reducing security, and freedom-infringing measures and rights abuse within and outside the current environment. But terrorrisken is a strong need to quickly step up a gear.

From 2010 have included a couple of hundred people have the våldsbejakande extremistmiljöerna in Sweden has grown to about 3 000 so-called hotaktörer.

The passivity with which many politicians have witnessed extremistmiljöernas growth is troublesome. The worst it has been far out to the left and right – where the extremists sometimes actively defended. But also a party that my own is poisoned. The measures taken have generally been too weak and come too late. Other countries are ahead of us.

the Treasury said in an evaluation that the government's investment 2014-2017 against våldsbejakande extremism contributed to increased knowledge and better coordination among public authorities and municipalities. But this was hardly more than a sort of beginners course. Many actors started almost from zero.

What is required now is that the next government will strengthen the efforts by a strong package of measures. A reasonable goal should be that in a first step, ensure that the extremist environments is halved. At the local level, many municipalities a homework to do. In Gothenburg, we have – among other things, an action plan, a coordination function and an intensification of work within the school and the social services – has come a long way. But local activities are not enough. Even the state level need to tighten up. As I see it, it should be national package built around five key points:

Sweden has not yet, in contrast to other EU-countries, no comprehensive terrorlagstiftning. One consequence of this is that almost all of the return of the Swedish ICE-terrorists won't have a penalty. It is not good enough. New laws on the criminalisation of participation in a terrorist organization and increased the sharing of confidential information among the Fbi, the police, social services and school need to be in place. Other gaps need to be filled. More long-term need to create a consensus about a major investigation on how and to what extent extremist organizations, and/or participation in them, can and should be criminalized.

for a long time, it has been easy for the non-democratic extremists in the public support schemes to usurp grants, premises and legitimacy. The state and many municipalities have been bad on that review and put a stop. In several places there is not even the sharp demokratikrav. In the spring, suggested the inquiry if the central government support to faith communities a demokratikriterium order to be able to distinguish away the anti-democratic groups. There is also an investigation of demokrativillkor for government grants to civil society. The new government needs to take a holistic approach to ensure that the safeguards against extremism, and therefore anti-democracy, the creation or strengthening of all public support schemes. Likely requires strengthening the knowledge and koordineringsstrukturer to all the municipalities to find the right in question.

the School is crucial for the fight against extremism. An improvement area is that principals and teachers, in the interaction between state and municipal level, need to be provided with guidelines, methodological support, training and other tools to strengthen the demokratiarbetet. They must, among other things, have the ability to resist when the parents and students of the fundamentalist/extremist because demands on, for example, deletion of sensitive topics, deviate from the scientific basis or to separate the girls and boys. In another improvement area should deaf children be given the bigger muscles that, in real interaction with the current municipality, to evaluate the democratic integrity of the school environment. If the principal has embedded or is embedding, into a school in a denominational environment that students, in reality, be affected and pressed into a fundamentalist/extremist direction, should the school seriously called into question.

in some parts of the country is a promising build-up of avradikaliserings-, avhoppar and återanpassningsverksamheter for extremists/terrorists. But the overall picture is not good. The media has recently drawn attention to the shortcomings in the management of the return of the IS-terrorists and extremists/terrorists who are sitting by long prison sentences. Here also need the new government to take a holistic approach to lift the level of ambition, ensuring coordination between, inter alia, correctional services and municipalities and to evaluate whether municipal activities, for example drop-outs, should be strengthened through national programmes.

To keep track of the våldsbejakande extremist environments is a resource-intensive work. That these environments is often linked to the fully independent churches does not make things easier. During the term of office, the government launched a long-term construction of the police and the Fbi, with a focus on, inter alia, a further 10 000 police services. In order to work against the extremists/terrorists to be able to be strengthened without other policing suffer, this is a completely necessary development.

in Order to avoid new terrorist attacks and other abuses that the våldsbejakande extremism of what is now systematically begin to push back extremistmiljöerna. It is high time for the democratic society to put in a counter attack.