Disinfo: Foreign students in Sweden leave universities from fear for their security

Summary

Foreign students quit Swedish universities, fearing threats on their personal security.

In 2005, housing and maintenance company in Swedish town of Borlange converted two apartment buildings in the densely Somali-populated area into a student complex with a gym […] Nine out of every ten residents of this dangerous area are foreigners. Little Mogadishu boasts a high proportion of Somali immigrants, which two years ago accounted for 36.8% of the area’s residents.

Disproof

A recurrent disinformation narrative fueling Islamophobia and suggesting a societal break-down in Europe; in this case - Sweden. A single case at a community college in a provincial Swedish town is used to suggest a major issue: international students quitting Swedish universities in general.

Around 19000 international students study at 39 Swedish universities. The case, referred to in the article concerns a single dormitory where around 100 students share a building with a social housing project.

publication/media

  • Reported in: Issue 224
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 03/12/2020
  • Outlet language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Sweden
  • Keywords: migration
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Disinfo: The EU must stop suffocating Donbas residents

The EU considers defending human rights one of its main goals worldwide, but it essentially became compliant in suffocating the residents of Donbas. They decided not to recognise the Russian passports issued to locals for humanitarian reasons, as they did with Crimea.

Disproof

Recurring disinformation about the European Union's role in Ukraine.

The European Union is in fact providing support for the most vulnerable people affected by the ongoing hostilities. In April 2020, Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic announced EUR 13 million to support conflict affected population. In October 2020, the EU allocated a further EUR 10 million to "support the most vulnerable people in eastern Ukraine ahead of the upcoming winter and in response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic."

Disinfo: Genocide invented by Ukraine is "hype, which has no plot"

Ukraine is stubbornly trying to create “hype” on this topic [Holodomor], not noticing that there is no plot for this.

Natural factors played a huge role. In 1932, the El Niño climatic cycle ended and famine was raging throughout the northern hemisphere due to drought and crop failure.

The famine of 1932-33 was not ethnically directed against the Ukrainians.

Disproof

This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the Holodomor in Ukraine.

In fact, the Holodomor was not caused by a poor harvest. It was caused by the directed actions of the Soviet authorities - the destruction by famine - against the Ukrainian countryside. In 1932, no critical weather conditions were recorded that could lead to grain shortages and the deaths of more than 7 million people. This year, compared to 1931, less grain was actually harvested (12.8 million tons against 17.7 million tons in 1931). The reason for lower yields was the ill-considered policy of grain procurement: in the villages, there was not enough grain to sow the fields, it was increasingly taken out of the USSR, leaving nothing for sowing. But even that number would be enough to avoid famine if the policy of genocide were not directed.

Disinfo: In Ukraine, it will be forbidden to communicate in Russian from January 2021

From January 16, 2021 it will be necessary to use the state language when ordering a cup of coffee, buying medicine. The so-called “language ombudsman” Taras Kremin underscoredthat from January 16, 2021, the service sector should switch exclusively to the Ukrainian language.

Disproof

This is a recurring pro-Kremlin propaganda narrative about the alleged discrimination of Ukraine's Russian-speaking minority and the country's ubiquitous Russophobia.

This is one in a series of news stories with false and manipulative headlines. The Russian language will not be banned in Ukraine. In Ukraine, service workers must start a conversation in Ukrainian from January 16, 2021, but they can change the language of communication at the request of the client. This is a quote taken out of context by the Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language Taras Kremlin. He recalled that "at the request of the client, his/her personal service can be carried out in another language."