Why is the UN worried about the increasing racism in Sweden?

Earlier this month, three of the United Nation's top experts on racism visited Sweden for five days to meet with officials and immigrants in order to evaluate how the country combats racial discrimination.

Justice Yvonne Mokgoro, a lawyer with US legal training who Nelson Mandela nominated to South Africa's constitutional court following the end of apartheid, served as the group's leader. 

“The collection, publication and analysis of data disaggregated by race or ethnic origin in all aspects of life, especially regarding interactions with law enforcement and the criminal justice system, is an essential element for designing and assessing responses to systemic racism,” Yvonne Mokgoro said. 

“Sweden needs to collect and use this data to fight systemic racism.”

The group also comprised Professor Juan Méndez, a renowned human rights attorney from Argentina, and Tracie Keesee, a seasoned US policewoman who serves as the New York Police Department's deputy commissioner for equity and inclusion.

Together they form the UN's Racial Justice Body, which was established to "advance revolutionary change for racial justice and equality”.

The expert committee criticised the police, citing low levels of trust in them in Swedish cities with a high immigrant population.

This issue has been raised several times in the past. The most recent one was in 2018, when the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance urged the Swedish to collect data in numerous domains broken down into categories including religion, language, nationality, and national or ethnic origin.

In 2014, a UN working group of experts on individuals of African origin also advised Sweden to compile data that was broken down by racial and ethnic groups.

This makes Sweden one of the relatively few nations that does not compile thorough statistics on its immigrant population. 

This implies that the Swedish government has no statistics at all regarding, for instance, the proportion of residents who identify as Muslims, Black, Asian, or Latino. 

As a result, there are no statistics at all available on topics like how Black Swedes are doing in the workforce, the median income of Swedish Muslims, etc.

The “colorblind” worldview, which centres on the notion that everyone is equal regardless of their cultural or racial background, is the foundation of Swedish integration policy. 

The ideals of anti-racism are highly valued by and widely practised by Swedes, who perceive themselves as being "democratic, liberal, egalitarian, tolerant, and individualist". 

The politics of Swedish integration are likewise consistent with these values as well. 

The country also made the word "race" taboo. In 2008, despite harsh criticism from the UN, Council of Europe, and EU, the term was removed from Sweden's anti-discrimination laws.

So, the law against discrimination in Sweden simply assumes that all people belong to the “same race: the human race”.

However, there are several consequences to this law. The Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention, asserts that immigrants are not, by definition, the targets of racism unless the offender of the crime also holds the belief that there are biological differences between races. It also says that prejudice against immigrants is "xenophobia," not racism.

And because Sweden does not recognise the concept of race, therefore anyone in the country, who does bring up racial prejudice, is admitting the existence of racial disparities, which only serves to validate racist presumptions about people.

According to a UN statement, the UN's Racial Justice Body has discussed its early findings with the Swedish government and is currently drafting a report that will be released soon and given to the Human Rights Council.