Sweden. A land of never-ending forests and occasional lakes. Up here, some 500 km from Copenhagen, we find two Syrian brothers Politiken has been following since their escape from Syria. Now in a small, sleepy village wrapped in rolling fog and November darkness, and lit up with the anaemic glow of inadequate street lampposts. In Denmark we speak of rural fringe areas. Yet how small Denmark is in comparison. Here in Sweden, if Christmas had not been introduced, one would have to create something similar, or write a chilling thriller or go moose hunting just to survive the winter.
»Sweden is a good country for children and old people. But not for young people«, says 18-year-old Mazen and youngest of the two brothers, living in a village with one of his sisters and her three children. The sister and her children escaped Damascus five months ago and fled to Sweden via an airport in the Middle East. Their temporary residence permit will probably become permanent, as refugees are not being sent back to Syria for the moment.
