Integration minister slams integration report
Sweden's Minister for Integration Jens Orback has lambasted the results of the inquiry into structural discrimination which were presented on Thursday.
Orback himself commmissioned the report by Masoud Kamali, a professor of sociology at Uppsala University. But he did not conceal his disappointment with Kamali's report into power, integration and structural discrimination in Sweden.
"We wanted structural discrimination to be identified and confirmed so that we could assess its scale. On that point we are not satisfied," said Orback.
Among the 27 proposals for helping immigrants to settle in to Swedish society, many are controversial.
The starting point is a new policy designed to reduce economic inequality. Kamali wants the Board of Integration and the Ministry of Justice's department for integration and diversity to be scrapped and replaced by two new agencies: a Board of Introduction and an organisation for promoting opportunity.
He also proposed that all public sector organisations with more than ten employees should reflect the ethnic ratios in society as a whole within five years and that people with low incomes should be given priority by public sector employees.
But even Professor Kamali said that he did not believe the proposals would be put into action.
"The conditions are not so good at the moment since it is an election year. Certain groups and parties are trying to exploit integration to win votes," he said.
Kamali said he hoped that politicians would realise that integration policies would determine Sweden's future.
But Jens Orback's reception was frosty to say the least.
He objected to the way Kamali described Swedish integration policy and slammed the majority of the proposals.
"There are a number of major proposals which go so far as influencing our constitution. They are lacking cost analysis and suggestions about legislative changes," said Orback.
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Orback himself commmissioned the report by Masoud Kamali, a professor of sociology at Uppsala University. But he did not conceal his disappointment with Kamali's report into power, integration and structural discrimination in Sweden.
"We wanted structural discrimination to be identified and confirmed so that we could assess its scale. On that point we are not satisfied," said Orback.
Among the 27 proposals for helping immigrants to settle in to Swedish society, many are controversial.
The starting point is a new policy designed to reduce economic inequality. Kamali wants the Board of Integration and the Ministry of Justice's department for integration and diversity to be scrapped and replaced by two new agencies: a Board of Introduction and an organisation for promoting opportunity.
He also proposed that all public sector organisations with more than ten employees should reflect the ethnic ratios in society as a whole within five years and that people with low incomes should be given priority by public sector employees.
But even Professor Kamali said that he did not believe the proposals would be put into action.
"The conditions are not so good at the moment since it is an election year. Certain groups and parties are trying to exploit integration to win votes," he said.
Kamali said he hoped that politicians would realise that integration policies would determine Sweden's future.
But Jens Orback's reception was frosty to say the least.
He objected to the way Kamali described Swedish integration policy and slammed the majority of the proposals.
"There are a number of major proposals which go so far as influencing our constitution. They are lacking cost analysis and suggestions about legislative changes," said Orback.
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