A former restaurant owner who fled to Sweden from war-torn Iraq in 2003, has decided to leave the country, citing safety concerns due to escalating gang violence.
After more than two decades in Sweden, Amin returned to his home country, describing the move as one of the best decisions he’s ever made.
In an interview with Dagens Nyheter, Amin shared his experience of running a business in Sweden for years before gang activity in his neighborhood forced him to leave.
“I forgot about those times! Now I live like a king! I am developing, I feel good. It is much safer in Iraq than in Sweden,” he said, reflecting on his new life back home.
Amin built a successful business after arriving in Sweden following the Iraq War. He operated a pub on the outskirts of Stockholm. However, the area became increasingly dangerous as migrant gangs began to dominate, demanding protection money from local business owners and resorting to violence when demands were not met. Amin became one of their targets.
“I moved to Sweden because it was a safe country. Now, I’m moving out of Sweden because it’s no longer safe,” Amin explained. After being subjected to repeated threats, violence, and extortion by an organized gang from Skärholmen, he decided he could no longer live or work under such conditions.
“Imagine how it feels to work 10 hours a day and then some nasty person comes and threatens you and says disgusting things,” he added.
Despite initial support from local police, the situation worsened as violence escalated. There were several shootings in the area, including a fatal one that occurred just outside his restaurant. “There is no safety in Sweden. I don’t feel safe there anymore. You can’t wear nice clothes, a gold chain, a nice watch. You can’t drive a nice car because someone will destroy it,” Amin said.
He has opened a new restaurant in Iraq and says he feels far more secure in a country that, only two decades ago, he fled in search of safety. “It’s safer in Iraq,” he concluded.
Amin’s story reflects growing concerns about gang violence in Sweden, which has become a prominent issue in recent years and one the center-right government, propped up by the right-wing Sweden Democrats, has expressed its determination to address.
In June, Swedish police introduced the first “stop-and-frisk-zone” in the country’s history, giving officers the power to search any individual or vehicle without the need for reasonable suspicion after a gang-related double shooting in the Hageby residential district of Norrköping, a city southwest of Stockholm.
The government recently announced plans to pay migrants 350,000 SEK (€30,809) to return to their homeland in a new voluntary remigration scheme, specifically targeting even naturalized foreigners who have failed to integrate.
However, a poll commissioned after the news broke about the offer suggested very few would be taking it up — 77 percent of those questioned in the survey said they were not interested in the incentive, with just 15 percent saying they would consider it.
