Sweden could ban begging, a minister has said, in a move that could split the governing coalition. Hundreds of people from Bulgaria and Romania currently travel to Sweden to beg on the streets.
The move was announced by Civic and Local Government Minister Ardalan Shekarabi, who is under pressure from local politicians alarmed by the spread of begging to small towns across the country: “It is natural at this stage to note that we have a problem, and that is very clear when I meet local politicians,” he said.
Sweden has so far tried to tackle the problem by reaching agreements with Romania and Bulgaria to improve the situation of the Roma communities in their homelands. “Yet still the begging continues, and our position is that begging in Sweden is no solution to the discrimination, poverty and social exclusion in the countries in question,” Shekarabi added.
A survey carried out by SVT in April 2015 found there were between 3,400 and 4,100 beggars in Sweden from other EU countries - primarily Bulgaria and Romania. This figure was more than double the number from the year before.
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