Students want to move out of Tjärna Ängar after a crime wave

The student union demands housing outside the million program

Of: Anna Sjögren

Published: October 10, 2020 at 07.17

BORLÄNGE. Shootings and assassination attempts, female students who feel persecuted and several robberies in a short time.

The Dalarna student union now demands that its exchange students be able to move out of their houses in Tjärna Ängar.

– They thought of Sweden as a developed country, says Mufassireen Ahmed, a trade union representative for international students.

Nirjana Jonsson, 19, moved into her student residence in Tjärna Ängar, a million-program area on Borlänge in Dalarna, in August.

Since then, there have been several serious incidents in the area. Among the worst: three shootings and two assassination attempts in which people were chased around the area and stabbed with a knife near the residence.

– Immediately when I moved in, they told me it was dangerous. And I’ve heard two shots since I came here. It doesn’t feel good to move back into an area where you don’t know anyone and then several serious crimes happen. Many of us don’t dare to go out here when it gets dark, says Nirjana, where she’s sitting on the couch in the student lounge’s common living room.

He has lived in Sweden for ten years and moved to Borlänge from Skellefteå to study international tourism at Dalarna University.

Here she has been exposed to cat calling, that men yell at her sexual invitations, when she was heading home. She lives two minutes from the store but doesn’t go shopping after dark.

– I’m trying to move out of the student residence and find something else in Borlänge. And I know many who have just arrived here and who are planning to return to their home countries.

Exchange students move home

There are 126 student apartments for both Swedish and international students. According to the Dalarna University student union, several of the international students here have chosen to interrupt their education and move home due to insecurity. A letter to the university management warns of recent events and that the situation is now urgent: “Enough is enough.”

In its letter, the student union lists shootings and violent crimes that took place in Tjärna Ängar, but also crimes that affected students. A student was beaten when he refused to let people onto the property. Several have been robbed, at one point a student woke up and the perpetrator was standing next to her bed. Women feel persecuted when they return home at night.

“Students are concerned to see a glimpse of war-torn countries outside their homes,” writes the student union.

– It is a very serious situation. Crime is high and many students feel unsafe and fear something will happen to them and become depressed. They can’t focus on their studies, says Mufassireen Ahmed, an exchange student from India and a union representative for international students.

She stands on a balcony that overlooks a courtyard and light gray three-story houses. The property itself where the student accommodation is located has no complaints, however many students are disappointed with the Sweden they have come to. Unsurprisingly, robberies and shootings are not mentioned in the material that students participate in before coming here.

– Students who come here pay for their education and have high expectations. They think of Sweden as a developed country and hope to be able to participate in Swedish traditions and culture and live in a good environment. This is what you see on Instagram accounts and in Swedish advertising. Some say that what they hoped for is not the Sweden they are experiencing now, says Mufassireen Ahmed.

The student union moves away from the letter

Most of the residents of Tjärna Ängar are foreign born, many of Somali origin. In the letter, the student union writes that the area has high unemployment, poverty, “extremely low education level” and widespread illiteracy. Instead, students should live in “highly motivated” areas with low unemployment and few poor people. The big picture among students is that they do not live in Sweden, that they do not hear Swedish and are not allowed to experience Swedish culture and traditions, the student union writes.

But not everyone agrees. The image is greatly exaggerated and only contributes to more insecurity, say several students Aftonbladet spoke with.

On the stairs outside the entrance to one of the houses is a student. What the student union writes is offensive and prejudicial, it says:

– It is written that the people of Tjärna Ängar cannot read or write and insult the entire ethnic group of East Africa here. And if the students who come here think that they should be allowed to live with a white Swede as a neighbor when they come to Sweden and they don’t want to live with dark-skinned people, they have come to the wrong country.

– I have dark skin and I speak Swedish.

Once the letter has been made public, the student union wants to partially depart from the wording. The president of the student union, Anton Petersson, emphasizes that they have nothing against the residents of Tjärna Ängar. He would like to stay away from the discussion about the situation in the area and talk about the mental illness of the students in general.

However, the union insists that students who want to can transfer.

– We believe that student housing should move to the center of Borlänge where there are opportunities, companies and innovation, this is a residential area, says Mufassireen Ahmed.

Police: more serious crimes than usual

The last two months in Tjärna Ängar are highlighted with more serious crimes than usual, according to police.

– Serious crimes have a common thread and they are drugs, there are some individuals active in crime who have happened to each other and it is important to understand that they are not connected with people who are not in those circles, says Erik Gatu. local police in Borlänge.

After a newspaper courier was surrounded and his car was recently stolen under threat, newspapers are now being distributed during the day. Even taxis have stopped circulating in the area in the afternoons and at night. Aftonbladet has also reported that Hemglass has withdrawn travel here after being surrounded by a large number of children who tried to force ice cream.

Local media reports that residents are concerned about the recent events. The associations have taken night walks and the police have increased their presence recently.

– Most people are completely tired of crime. And I have full respect for the fact that students who live here temporarily and end up in an area where it happens and have committed serious crimes are unsafe. They end up in a risk zone where we have problems.

Problems with accommodation already in 2016

Insecurity in student accommodation was raised as early as 2016, when the then rector of Dalarna University demanded that no students live in Tjärna Ängar. Something that he later retracted after receiving harsh criticism from various associations for painting the area black.

Current Principal Martin Norsell has no such relocation requirement. He has called a meeting with the Borlänge municipal management and the Tunabyggen housing company to find a solution.

– If someone feels insecure or disappointed, they are always a failure. It affects the results of the study but also our recruitment of students, such writings do not exactly increase the attractiveness of the university.

I return to the living room of the student residence. Nirjana Jonsson has an idea of ​​how security could still go up a bit for students.

– Many students only speak English and are left alone. By getting to know the residents, we could feel more secure. It would be nice if we could arrange a meeting with us and the residents, he says.

Published: October 10, 2020 at 07.17

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