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Planned refugee centre burned down in Sweden

The planned shelter, on the outskirts of the town of Floda in southwest Sweden, had yet to welcome its first residents

Afp November 07, 2015

PHOTO: AFP

STOCKHOLM: A planned refugee shelter was burned down in Sweden on Saturday with police saying the fire may have been started deliberately, the latest in a string of suspected arson cases targeting a huge influx of migrants.

"Several buildings were burnt, including one which witnesses say has been destroyed completely," police said in a statement.

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"For the moment the cause of the fire is not certain but as there are reasons to suspect it may have been started deliberately, a preliminary arson inquiry has been opened."

The planned shelter, on the outskirts of the town of Floda in southwest Sweden, had yet to welcome its first residents. There were no injuries and there have been no arrests.

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The fire follows around a dozen confirmed or suspected cases of arson targeting migrants in Sweden this year.

Total arrivals of asylum-seekers to the Scandinavian country are expected to reach up to 190,000 in 2015, the most per capita of any European nation as the continent struggles with its worst migration crisis since World War II.

On Thursday the Swedish government warned that its capacity to host the refugees has reached saturation point and it cannot guarantee shelter for any new arrivals.

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"We are in a tense situation and we are dependent on the opening of new lodgings. It is incredibly hard when they are destroyed by a fire," migration agency spokeswoman Johanna Uhr told the Goteborgs-Posten newspaper.

COMMENTS (2)

G. Din | 9 years ago | Reply Europe should, like Australia, divert all those three million expected refugees and migrants to Greenland which is a vast icy wasteland close to Arctic where no one lives at present. It will be a nice addition to Dar-ul-Islam.

Madhav Das | 9 years ago | Reply The Afghan refugees living in Pakistan can be repatriated back to Pakistan making space for refugees from Syria, Iraq and North Africa. Since the Syrian refugees are Muslim they will have no problems integrating into Pakistani society. Pakistani society has problems accepting the dark skinned Rohingya Muslims who are from the area bordering Bangladesh and Myanmar but will be more welcoming of the fair skinned Arabs from the Middle East. EU nations may be willing to pay Pakistan to support these displaced persons until peace returns and the refugees can return to Syria. This way they can return whatever favours the Middle East has given to Pakistan over the years.

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