Swedish government proposes new coronavirus law to limit crowds

Sweden's government is working to put forward a temporary law allowing it to limit the number of passengers on public transport and customers in shops.

The government doesn't currently have the right to do this — unlike many countries, there is no framework for a state of emergency, and a law passed earlier in the year granting the government extra decision-making powers during the pandemic expired in summer without ever being used. The goal is to have the new law in place by summer 2021.

Swedish vocabulary: to limit — att begränsa

Debate after claims of 'gang members' curfew' in Stockholm suburb

Swedish news programme TV4Nyheterna reported that gang members in a Stockholm suburb had issued a curfew for local residents in August, a claim that has renewed debate over misrepresentation and polarised depictions of the neighbourhood in media.

A police officer said that local gang members had told residents not to be outside after 6pm in Tensta. But many local residents say they had not heard of any curfew. The Social Democrats' spokesperson for the neighbourhood, Mohamed Nuur, told SVT: “Unfortunately I feel that the police have ended up creating a feeling of unsafety in the area by giving out this information which people in the area were not aware of.”

Swedish vocabulary: curfew — utegångsförbud

Photo: Pontus Lundahl / TT

Half of refugees who arrived to Sweden in 2015 still looking for work

Among the refugees who arrived to Sweden in 2015, just over half are employed five years on. A total of 163,000 asylum seekers came to Sweden that year, almost twice as many as ever before in one year.

Of those aged between 20 and 64, just over half received income from employment during 2019, while 8,700 received study grants and almost 10,000 received some form of parental benefit.

Among those who worked, the average total income was 100,000 kronor (129,000 kronor for men and 52,000 kronor for women on average), which is around a third of the average annual income for people living in Sweden overall.

Swedish vocabulary: refugee — flykting

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