On June 8 and June 9, 2010, youth riots broke out in

Rinkeby Rinkeby () is a stadsdel, district in the Rinkeby-Kista borough, Stockholm, Sweden. Rinkeby had 19,349 inhabitants in 2016. The neighbourhood was part of the Million Programme. The Stockholm metro station Rinkeby metro station, Rinkeby was also o ...

, a suburb dominated by Muslim immigrant residents, in northern

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. Up to 100 Muslim youths threw bricks, set fires and attacked the local police station in Rinkeby. It was among the earliest urban riots by Muslim immigrant youth in Sweden.

Rioting

The riot broke out late on the evening of 8 June, when a group of young adults were refused admittance to a junior high school dance; angered, they responded by throwing rocks through the windows of the school. From there, the rioting spread. Rioting continued for two nights. Police estimate that about 100 young men participated in the rioting, throwing bricks, setting fires and attacking the police station. Rioters threw rocks at police, attacked a police station and burned down a school, throwing rocks at responding fire engines and preventing fire fighters from reaching the school in time to save the building.

Analysis

Social activist

George Lakey George Russell Lakey (born November 2, 1937) is an activist, sociologist, and writer who added academic underpinning to the concept of nonviolent revolution. He also refined the practice of experiential training for activists which he calls "Dir ...

describes the 2010 Rinkeby riots as among the earliest riots by migrant youth in Sweden. Founder of

iona Institute The Iona Institute is a socially conservative, Christian, advocacy group, frequently described as a Catholic pressure group based in Ireland. Founded by columnist David Quinn, it was launched publicly in 2007. Iona promotes conservative Christ ...

- the Catholic Pressure Group, commentator David Quinn linked the riots to immigration of

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...

blaming "the mainstream political parties, aided for the most part by the mainstream media," for abetting the rise of right wing political movement by "refus(ing) to permit an open and honest debate about" the causes of this and other riots by immigrant youth, and also by ignoring the "anti-Semitism, sex abuse, voter fraud," in immigrant communities. Sociologist

Peggy Levitt Peggy may refer to: People * Peggy (given name), people with the given name or nickname Arts and entertainment * ''Peggy'' (musical), a 1911 musical comedy by Stuart and Bovill * ''Peggy'' (album), a 1977 Peggy Lee album * ''Peggy'' (1916 ...

attributes the riots to anger over "long-term youth unemployment and poverty."

Background

Rinkeby is noted for its high concentration of

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

and people with immigrant ancestry. 89.1% of the population of Rinkeby had a first- or second-generation immigrant background as of 31 December 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rinkeby riots 2010 fires in Europe 2010 in Sweden 2010 riots 2010s in Stockholm Fires in Sweden Race riots in Sweden Riots and civil disorder in Sweden Protests in Sweden Protests in the European Union June 2010 events in Europe Metropolitan Stockholm

Rioting

Analysis

Background

See also

References