Life in one of Sweden's 'particularly vulnerable areas'
Hallunda, south of Stockholm, is one of the areas defined by police as "particularly vulnerable." Here, people generally seem to take the talk of 'no-go zones' in their stride.
When the police's national operations unit in the end of 2015 published a report about vulnerable areas in Sweden, Hallunda/Norsborg in the Botkyrka municipality were placed in the group of "particularly vulnerable areas."
But Ambreen, who works in a local newsagent's in Hallunda Centrum, says she generally feels safe here.
There were a few things happening in the beginning of last year, when the jewellers got robbed. But on a day-to-day basis, it is completely okay," she said.
Carlos also works in the shopping mall. He, on the other hand, is fed up with the situation.
The police know that people are smoking pot by the exits here. That shouldn't be acceptable in today's society," he said.
In a 2016 survey carried out by the municipality, 46 per cent of the respondents said they felt safe in Hallunda/Norsborg. This is up from 39 per cent in 2014, and 42 per cent in 2015.
"The numbers are low compared to other parts of Stockholm, and even other parts of Botkyrka, but they are slowly going up," said Tomaj Keyvani, who works for the municipality to develop the area.
He completely dismisses talk of no-go zones.
If this was a no-go zone, we would not have the interest that we have from construction companies to build residential houses here," he said.
Tomaj Keyvani believes the talk of no-go zones has been pushed by "groups in society that have an interest in painting a much darker picture of these areas than is the reality."
To listen to the interviews in English with the residents of Hallunda, click the play button above.
This is the second part in a series about the so called 'no-go zones' and the image of Sweden abroad.
