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 Across the border in the far northern Swedish town of Kalix, a
traditional bastion of center-left politics, over 100 residents
signed a petition against plans to turn a 19th century country house
into a reception center for unaccompanied minors.
The debate among these liberal Scandinavian stalwarts would have
been unheard of a year ago, underscoring how concern about a record
influx of immigrants is percolating into the Nordics' mainstream
from the populist fringes.
Anti-immigrant, populist parties have gained support since some
250,000 refugees entered the Nordics last year. A record 163,000
refugees arrived in Sweden and the far right is vying for top spot
in polls. In Denmark, the anti-immigration Danish People’s Party is
the second largest in parliament.
But it is a backlash among the mainstream that may be the biggest
change. There are signs that voters may be broadly supportive of
immigrants but not in their own backyard. From welfare cuts to new
ID checks, it is a trend that shows the limits of even some of
Europe’s most open societies, and may represent a sea change for
politics in Scandinavia.
 "It's a big change happening close to us. In all neighborhoods there
are concerns," said Pia Almvang, head of the parents' association at
Lysaker primary school in a leafy well-to-do area of villas near
Oslo, cut through by a motorway with cheaper four-storey blocks of
flats built alongside.
"The parents just want to look after their kids."
The town council agreed to parents' requests for extra security by a
motorway underpass near a refugee center for 600 people that opened
this month. After criticisms of "asylum guards" the proposal was
withdrawn, but it had already polarized this middle class community.
A February survey showed immigration as the main concern for 40
percent of Swedes, easily trumping worries over failing schools,
joblessness and welfare. The change over half a year was the biggest
opinion swing in the poll's history.
From taking in Vietnam draft dodgers in the 1960s to Balkans war
refugees in the 1990s, Sweden has been proud of its open door policy
for decades. Norway has been among the leaders in helping refugees
worldwide with aid.
While the asylum situation has led to an outpouring of support from
many Swedes - charities reported record donations last year - it has
also led others to worry about the effect on schools, crime and the
country's welfare state.
TENSION AT HOME
In Kalix, hit by a decline in the paper industry but still a bastion
of Social Democrat support, residents have petitioned the council to
abandon plans for a center for around 30 unaccompanied children.
"I have a big heart and I believe we have to help, so it's not about
that, but enough is enough," said Anne-Maj Ostlund, a 75-year-old
retired school teacher who lives close to the yellow-painted wooden
villa in Kalix, being used as a hostel
"I have lived in heaven here ... it is peaceful," said Ostlund, who
has lived in the same house since 1948. "What is going to be left?"
 Middle class neighborhoods in Stockholm and Gothenburg have seen
meetings where furious citizens have questioned politicians over
refugees' housing.
Police were called to one meeting in Haninge, near Stockholm, where
the local authority had gathered residents and parents of pupils at
a nearby school to inform them about plans for a center for
unaccompanied minors.
Council workers were met by shouts of "they are going to rape our
children," and "who will take responsibility when someone dies".
Mainstream parties in Sweden are now proposing measures against
immigration that were only the ground of the far right a few years
ago. Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, who once told crowds that "My
Europe does not build walls", tightened asylum rules and border
controls with ID checks.
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In Denmark a bill tightening immigration laws, including the
confiscation of refugees’ valuables, passed with overwhelming
support including the center-left Social Democrats.
Sweden's Moderate Party, the biggest of the center-right opposition,
wants to limit asylum seekers' access to welfare.
It was a sign of the times that when Sweden's center left interior
minister said the government would deport 80,000 immigrants this
year, former Foreign Minister Carl Bildt tweeted the "probable aim
is to send a signal that new ones are not welcome."
The concerns are not just related to security but that the Nordic
state is under threat from the high fiscal cost of newcomers and the
sense that civic trust which underpins a culture of high taxes is
being eroded.
Nordic nations have the highest percentage of people agreeing that
"most people can be trusted" when asked in international surveys,
helping drive a consensus for high taxes and extensive welfare.
"The Nordic welfare state works due to trust. You have to trust that
people work and pay taxes when they are able to do so," said Gert
Tinggaard, professor of political science at Denmark's Aarhus
University.
"The second condition is that you also have to trust the
politicians," he added. "You get a bang for your buck."
The IMF estimates that Sweden will spend 1.0 percent of its gross
domestic product on asylum seekers in 2016, by far the highest of 19
European nations surveyed.
Last year, Sweden had to find an extra 70,000 school places due to
asylum seekers, on top of 100,000 pupils that normally enter the
school system for the first time in any given year.
In a country where speaking out against immigration is still taboo
for many, Scandinavians privately voice concerns about signs of
crowded emergency rooms and larger school classes. Newspapers are
increasingly full of reports of money being spent on refugees and
reports of crime involving asylum seekers, although crime figures do
not bear out these concerns.
Lofven - who admits Sweden faces increased polarization - has seen
his government's support fall to record lows in polls due to a sense
his government is helpless to stop a migrant influx.
For Ylva Johansson, Swedish minister for employment and integration
issues, the problem is that thousands of refugees, many young men,
are not integrated into the workforce, instead languishing in asylum
centers in villages and towns.
"Most Swedes are not racist," she said. "But when there is this
special asylum housing when they cannot work, and cannot be part of
society this is really a tension.
"This is a dangerous situation," she added. "We have a lot of people
in no man's land .. living outside society."
(Additional reporting by Daniel Dickson and Johan Ahlander in
Stockholm, Sabina Zawadzki in Copenhagen; Writing by Alistair
Scrutton; Editing by Janet McBride)
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