https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from Sweden in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed Eskilstuna, a town to the west of Stockholm, has become the first in the country to introduce a licence fee for beggars, meaning anyone who wants to ask people for money on the street will have to pay for a permit. https://www.thelocal.se/20190802/swedish-town-introduces-paid-permits-for-beggars Fri, 02 Aug 2019 09:46:20 +0200 swedish-town-introduces-paid-permits-for-beggars A 34-year-old man has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for luring two homeless men to Sweden from Romania and then forcing them to beg for money for up to 12 hours a day. https://www.thelocal.se/20190617/man-jailed-for-luring-homeless-romanians-to-sweden-to-beg Mon, 17 Jun 2019 17:37:47 +0200 man-jailed-for-luring-homeless-romanians-to-sweden-to-beg The municipal assembly in the southeastern town of Katrineholm voted in favour of a ban on begging on Monday evening, local media reported. https://www.thelocal.se/20190416/another-swedish-town-bans-begging-after-landmark-court-ruling Tue, 16 Apr 2019 11:00:51 +0200 another-swedish-town-bans-begging-after-landmark-court-ruling The number of homeless beggars from Romania and Bulgaria living in Sweden is as high as it was three years ago, according to the new government figures. https://www.thelocal.se/20190217/sweden-fails-to-cut-number-of-vulnerable-eu-migrants Sun, 17 Feb 2019 14:41:09 +0100 sweden-fails-to-cut-number-of-vulnerable-eu-migrants The town of Staffanstorp in southern Sweden has taken a step towards becoming the nation’s second to formally ban begging. https://www.thelocal.se/20190207/second-swedish-town-moves-to-ban-begging Thu, 07 Feb 2019 14:59:33 +0100 second-swedish-town-moves-to-ban-begging Police in the Malmö commuter town of Vellinge have started cracking down on beggars, a fortnight after Sweden’s top administrative court said its begging ban could go ahead. https://www.thelocal.se/20190104/police-start-enforcing-swedens-first-begging-ban Fri, 04 Jan 2019 18:38:26 +0100 police-start-enforcing-swedens-first-begging-ban Six Bulgarians who brought people from their native country and made them beg for money in Sweden have been found guilty of human trafficking and sent to prison. https://www.thelocal.se/20181220/six-locked-up-for-forcing-bulgarians-to-beg-in-sweden Thu, 20 Dec 2018 09:13:27 +0100 six-locked-up-for-forcing-bulgarians-to-beg-in-sweden The top administrative court in Sweden has given the go-ahead to a begging ban in a town in Skåne, the first to introduce such a regulation. https://www.thelocal.se/20181217/swedens-highest-court-confirms-local-begging-ban Mon, 17 Dec 2018 12:26:34 +0100 swedens-highest-court-confirms-local-begging-ban As many as 60 people Bulgarians were exploited in Sweden, forced to beg on the streets and hand over their money to the masterminds who brought them into the country, prosecutors said on Friday. https://www.thelocal.se/20180914/eight-charged-with-human-trafficking-for-forcing-bulgarians-to-beg-in-sweden Fri, 14 Sep 2018 19:44:19 +0200 eight-charged-with-human-trafficking-for-forcing-bulgarians-to-beg-in-sweden Begging does not disturb the public order, a Swedish county administrative board said when it rejected the city of Eskiltuna's bid to make people apply for a permit before begging for money. https://www.thelocal.se/20180711/swedish-county-board-stops-eskilstuna-begging-permit Wed, 11 Jul 2018 16:49:33 +0200 swedish-county-board-stops-eskilstuna-begging-permit The Swedish branch of Amnesty International has heard witness accounts from beggars who say they have been harassed and moved by police while begging, Aftonbladet reports. https://www.thelocal.se/20180322/amnesty-international-investigates-reports-stockholm-police-move-beggars-away-from-city-centre Thu, 22 Mar 2018 09:53:27 +0100 amnesty-international-investigates-reports-stockholm-police-move-beggars-away-from-city-centre Sweden's first ever begging ban has been overturned by an administrative court on the grounds that those collecting money do not cause enough of a public disturbance. https://www.thelocal.se/20180208/swedens-first-begging-ban-overturned-by-court Thu, 08 Feb 2018 18:23:05 +0100 swedens-first-begging-ban-overturned-by-court The Swedish government wants to tighten laws in order to stop people from being exploited as beggars, creating a new crime of “human exploitation” as well as increasing the punishment for other crimes in the area. https://www.thelocal.se/20171213/swedish-government-wants-new-law-to-stop-begging-exploitation Wed, 13 Dec 2017 09:10:18 +0100 swedish-government-wants-new-law-to-stop-begging-exploitation A large group of people have been detained in Sweden after police launched an offensive against a begging ring in the south of the country which allegedly transported Bulgarian citizens to Sweden in order to beg, then took their earnings. https://www.thelocal.se/20171205/swedish-police-bust-international-begging-ring Tue, 05 Dec 2017 17:26:54 +0100 swedish-police-bust-international-begging-ring In this week's episode of The Local's Europe-wide podcast, Lee Roden looks at what the future might hold for Catalonia. https://www.thelocal.se/20171027/theres-no-safe-option-in-catalonia-now Fri, 27 Oct 2017 19:22:58 +0200 theres-no-safe-option-in-catalonia-now A county administrative board on Monday overturned Sweden's first begging ban after ruling that the collection of money did not amount to disturbance of public order. https://www.thelocal.se/20171023/vellinge-swedens-first-begging-ban-overturned-by-county-board Mon, 23 Oct 2017 14:24:20 +0200 vellinge-swedens-first-begging-ban-overturned-by-county-board A human rights organization has launched an appeal against a potential begging ban that moved one step closer to becoming the first of its kind in Sweden after a municipal council gave its approval. https://www.thelocal.se/20170921/human-rights-group-appeals-move-to-introduce-swedens-first-begging-ban Thu, 21 Sep 2017 10:56:36 +0200 human-rights-group-appeals-move-to-introduce-swedens-first-begging-ban Local politicians have moved to make a municipality in the south of Sweden the first in the country to introduce a ban on begging. https://www.thelocal.se/20170830/skane-town-moves-closer-to-introducing-swedens-first-begging-ban Wed, 30 Aug 2017 13:05:33 +0200 skane-town-moves-closer-to-introducing-swedens-first-begging-ban Support for banning begging in the Swedish capital has gone up by more than 20 percentage points in one year, according to a fresh survey. https://www.thelocal.se/20161031/more-than-half-of-stockholmers-want-a-begging-ban Mon, 31 Oct 2016 08:45:22 +0100 more-than-half-of-stockholmers-want-a-begging-ban Sweden could ban begging, a minister has said, in a move that could open up a fissure in the governing coalition. Hundreds of people from the Roma communities of Bulgaria and Romania currently travel to Sweden to beg on the streets. https://www.thelocal.se/20160819/sweden-could-ban-begging-after-council-pressure Fri, 19 Aug 2016 10:12:22 +0200 sweden-could-ban-begging-after-council-pressure