STOCKHOLM, Sweden: Sweden has denied claims that the country’s social service agencies kidnap Muslim children.
This follows kidnapping stories being posted on social media by Muslim groups.
The Swedish government has responded, saying the allegations “are wrong” and are “seriously misleading and aim to create tensions and spread mistrust.”
On Twitter, the Foreign Ministry described “a disinformation campaign,” noting that “all children in Sweden are protected and cared for equally under Swedish legislation, including the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child.”
The Foreign Ministry added that when a Swedish child is removed from a home by social workers, a court order is first required.
“Should this happen, the working hypothesis is that the child will be reunited with its parents. All this is done under the care and supervision of trained professionals,” the ministry’s post said.
Any decision by the social services, “including cases where a child is temporarily removed from its parents, always put the safety and wellbeing of the child first,” the ministry posted.
The first claims that Sweden had kidnapped Muslim children appeared on social media in recent weeks.
The Swedish Psychological Defense Agency, which acts to counter misinformation, said the kidnapping stories were traced to an Arabic-language site that supports the Islamic State.
Some of the posts, published in English, said Muslim children are placed with non-Muslim foster families and forced to eat pork and drink alcohol.
Mikael Tofvesson, head of the Swedish Psychological Defense Agency, told Swedish radio that the aim of the campaign was “to create a negative image of Sweden.”
Additionally, Anders Ygeman, Minister For Migration And Integration, told broadcaster TV4 that “lies must be met with facts.”
Ygeman added that Muslims and imams in Sweden had distanced themselves “from this propaganda and disinformation.”
