Sweden stands out as a nation which has opened its doors to refugees from Iraq and other troubled regions, but, like any society, there still remain vestiges of discrimination and prejudice within its borders. Sweden’s ombundsman issued a sharply critical report concerning the presence of discrimination within Sweden and urged changes in policies. “There are still discriminatory structures that affect minorities’ possibilities to have their rights respected,” noted the report. It pointed out that a variety of groups ranging from Jews to Roma to Samis confront the need to sacrifice aspects of their culture or language in order to fit into Swedish society. There were many complaints form Samis that their language rights were not being respected.
Multiculturalism is a complex process of finding the balance between respect for the rights and cultures of individual groups and the necessity of integration diverse ideas within a framework that is respectful without sacrificing national norms of democracy. The report was sharply critical that discrimination in schools against certain groups resulted in “consequences for their possibiilties to advance to higher education.
