Sweden Wins Award For ‘Best Country To Be a Migrant’

We have written frequently on the topic of migrant crime in Sweden over the past several months.  From attacks on journalists and cops, to the development of so-called “no-go zones” where basic police and postal services have been suspended due to soaring crime levels, parts of the otherwise quite Nordic country have been literally transformed by an influx of migrants over the past several years.

So, what’s attracting the droves of migrants to the frozen tundra of northern Europe.  Well, luckily U.S. News & World Report has an official ranking to help answer that question and turns out it’s not just the allure of Swedish soccer or their fans…

As US News points out today, 80 countries around the globe were ranked based on their appeal to migrants and Sweden ‘won’ the coveted top spot.  Criteria for the ranking ranged from economic stability and income equality to the availability of language training and a number of remittances that migrants sent back to their home countries.

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To determine the Best Countries to Be an Immigrant, U.S. News assessed international perceptions of a country, as well as immigration policy and economic data.

More than 21,000 people from all regions of the world participated in the Best Countries survey, in which they assessed how closely they associated 80 countries with specific characteristics. Four of these – “economically stable,” “good job market,” “income equality” and “is a place I would live” – were included in the Best Countries to Be an Immigrant ranking.

Countries also were scored in relation to others on the share of migrants in their population; the amount of remittances the migrants they host sent home; and graded on a United Nations assessment of integration measures provided for immigrants, such as language training and transfers of job certifications, and the rationale behind current integration policies.

Scores for these eight factors on a 100-point scale were averaged together for an overall score.

Of course, we suspect that not everyone in Sweden is excited about this new honor, including that Swedish police officer who recently offered up a little more truth than people are used to when he posted an epic rant on Facebook about immigrant crimes plaguing his police department and his country.  Here is a small taste of the rant (full post here):

“Here we go; this is what I’ve handled from Monday-Friday this week: rape, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, rape-assault and rape, extortion, blackmail, assault, violence against police, threats to police, drug crime, drugs, crime, felony, attempted murder, rape again, extortion again and ill-treatment.”

“Suspected perpetrators; Ali Mohammed, Mahmod, Mohammed, Mohammed Ali, again, again, again. Christopher… what, is it true? Yes, a Swedish name snuck in on the edges of a drug crime. Mohammed, Mahmod Ali, again and again.”

“Countries representing all the crimes this week: Iraq, Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, Somalia, Syria again, Somalia, unknown, unknown country, Sweden. Half of the suspects, we can’t be sure because they don’t have any valid papers. Which in itself usually means that they’re lying about their nationality and identity.”

As the Washington Post points out, Sweden wasn’t the only Nordic country to fare well in the ranking, with Norway, Finland and Denmark all winning a spot in the top 10 largely due to favorable perceptions found in the survey about their economies and commitment to income equality. Other countries, such as Canada and Switzerland, were given positive marks not only for their economy but also integration measures for immigrants, such as language training.

Meanwhile, the U.S. scored well because of the large numbers of remittances. Britain ranked even lower — 17th — despite its strong economy, because its immigration policy specifically favored its own nationals. U.S. News noted that it was one of only six countries that had similar policies, including Saudi Arabia and Myanmar.

To summarize, the countries with the best economies and highest entitlement spending per capita allow their migrants the greatest opportunity to export domestic wealth and are therefore the ‘winners.’

Reprinted with permission from Zero Hedge.

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