On Saturday, various groups and organizations are gathering for a demonstration in central Malmö. The demand being made is for what they call “a humane migration policy.” Far from everyone sees the church’s participation as something positive.

It is the Church of Sweden in Malmö that is co-organizing the demonstration held at Triangeltorget. The event promises “sing-alongs, slogans, and shared encouragement before the demonstration goes through central Malmö.”

Afterward, participants return to Triangeltorget “with speakers and activists from several of Malmö’s civil society organizations, as well as poetry, dance, music, and singing.”

The demonstration is part of the campaign week For a Humane Migration Policy, which runs from August 28 to September 6 and is marked by similar demonstrations in several places around the country.

In Malmö, the organizers want to highlight, among other things, a migration policy based on human rights, that Malmö should be a safe place for people fleeing, and that permanent residence permits should once again be the main rule. We also want to draw attention to how migration policy affects people’s lives and emphasize the importance of solidarity, justice, and compassion.

According to the Church of Sweden Malmö, the whole event is “about standing up for human dignity and everyone’s right to safety and a decent life.”

– In Malmö, there are many of us who do not want to divide people, and who experience the consequences of the current inhumane migration policy up close. The Malmö we stand for is a Malmö that fights together and stands in solidarity with people in need, says deacon Agnes Callewaert.

Storm of Criticism

On social media, the Church of Sweden’s participation is being questioned.

“I think it’s sad that even the Church of Sweden is involved in normalizing Islam’s oppression of women! I don’t want to see images with symbols of sharia in Sweden. In Sweden, women have fought for equality for decades. We cannot allow imported ideologies to take Sweden back to the Middle Ages! Is it not the case that many Muslims have fled from the oppression of the ideology of Islam? So why fight to preserve the oppression represented by this ideology?” wonders one woman.

“A self-destructive behavior by the Church of Sweden,” states one man.

“You really are working hard to get as many people as possible to take the step and leave the Church of Sweden..,” comments another person.

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