One in ten school students in Gothenburg’s north-eastern suburbs sympathize with religious extremist organizations, according to a survey carried out by Swedish non-profit organization Varken Hora eller Kuvad.
"I was completely shocked when I saw the result. I perhaps would have guessed one percent. I’m speechless," Guluzar Tarhan Selvi, acting project manager at Varken Hora eller Kuvad told Swedish newspaper Göteborgs-Posten (GP).
The Swedish government’s national coordinator against violent extremism said she was not hugely surprised by the number however.
"The study was carried out in some of the areas where we know there are people who have travelled to join Isis in Syria," Hillevi Engström said.
And the MP insisted it is good that more facts about support for extremist organizations are coming to light.
"You have to put forward all the facts and after that start prevention work early, and speak about everyone’s equal value and human rights in school. It’s also to do with alienation. Many people have a feeling that they don’t belong to society," she added.
Robert Hannah, a Swedish MP of the centre-right Liberals who grew up in north-eastern Gothenburg, said the study confirmed the city is divided. [The Local] Read more
