PRO Dodges When Question Gets Uncomfortable: No Opinion on Deportation After Rape of 100-Year-Old

An Iraqi citizen has been convicted of raping a 100-year-old woman in her own home—yet is allowed to stay in Sweden. When Samnytt asks the National Organization of Pensioners (PRO) for their views on the matter, the secretary-general avoids taking a stance and instead returns to general discussions about quality, education, and system deficiencies in elderly care. Meanwhile, a nurse assistant with experience from several nursing homes testifies to a daily reality filled with language barriers, understaffing, and a culture of silence where the elderly’s stories are often not taken seriously behind closed doors.
– There are hardly any Swedes left in elderly care, says the nurse assistant.

When it became known that a 38-year-old Iraqi man without Swedish citizenship was convicted of raping a 100-year-old woman in her home, it sparked strong reactions on social media—not just due to the brutality of the crime, but also because the perpetrator is allowed to stay in Sweden after serving his sentence.

In a conversation with Samnytt, Christine Cars-Ingels, secretary-general of the National Organization of Pensioners (PRO), is repeatedly asked about her view on the incident. However, she never provides a clear answer, instead trying to find ways to avoid the topic.

PRO is a member-based advocacy organization representing Sweden’s pensioners and working for their rights and conditions. The organization pursues issues regarding pensions, elderly care, health, and safety. They claim to work for older people to live active, dignified, and secure lives.

Cars-Ingels begins by noting that the organization is aware of sexual crimes against elderly women mainly through media reports. She describes rapes in elderly care as heavily stigmatized and believes the dark figures are likely high. On this point, there is no disagreement.

However, when the question is made specific—that the current perpetrator is an Iraqi citizen, convicted of a serious sexual crime against a 100-year-old, and is still not deported—Cars-Ingels refrains from taking a stance.

– We have not formed an opinion on that kind of issue, she says, shifting the focus instead to what PRO advocates politically: a general “elderly care boost,” better quality, and expanded background checks.

But other people who speak different languages may also need to communicate in their languages. So it’s a bit complex. I believe it’s not about origin but rather language ability. You must be able to communicate.

Christine Cars-Ingels, Secretary-General, National Organization of Pensioners (PRO)

When Samnytt again returns to the core issue—how PRO views a foreign citizen who commits such a serious crime against a very old woman being allowed to stay in the country—Cars-Ingels replies that she has not looked into the individual case enough to comment. The judgment, she says, is up to the court.

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A “failing grade” when a 100-year-old is raped

At the same time, she repeatedly points out that rapes in home care are a “failing grade” for elderly care and a sign of poor quality and oversight. The problem, according to her, lies in the system—not in sentencing or deportation issues.

The interview also touches on the issue of elderly care being used as an integration tool, something several nurse assistants Samnytt has spoken to say has led to language problems and a lack of communication with the elderly.

I believe that if a person can speak Swedish and wants to communicate in Swedish, elderly care should try to accommodate this. The staff should be able to speak Swedish.

Christine Cars-Ingels, Secretary-General, National Organization of Pensioners (PRO)

Is it a problem that the elderly are used as an integration tool to get newcomers into the workforce?

– The fact is that we are very dependent on people who come to Sweden to work in elderly care. A lot of people do a very good job, I must emphasize. According to SKR, over 50 percent of care assistants are born outside Sweden. She continues:

– The contribution these people make is incredibly important, and many elderly say they do a fantastic job.

Woman and “client” in elderly care. Photo: Private

A Swedish nurse assistant told Samnytt that hardly any Swedish is spoken among the staff at some care homes. What is your comment on that?

– That is also an issue we’ve advocated for. You should be able to make yourself understood in elderly care—and that goes for both people who speak Swedish and want to be understood in their language. She continues:

– But others who speak different languages may also need to communicate in their languages. So it’s a bit complex. I believe it’s not about origin but about language ability. You must be able to communicate.

Can you expect Swedish elderly in their 90s to understand Arabic?

– I think that if someone can speak Swedish and wants to communicate in Swedish, elderly care should try to accommodate this. The staff should be able to speak Swedish.

Even when the issue of working alone in home care is raised, where young men work alone behind closed doors with very old women, Cars-Ingels refrains from taking a position on concrete changes. Whether staff should work in pairs, or if other security measures are needed, is, according to her, for managers to decide.

Towards the end of the interview, the reporter notes that few clear answers have been given, especially regarding whether the perpetrator should be allowed to stay in Sweden. Cars-Ingels rejects the criticism and says she speaks from the priorities of PRO’s members, which she claims to know through regular surveys.

Meanwhile, Samnytt describes conversations with elderly women who express fear of growing old in Sweden. PRO’s secretary-general says she becomes “terribly distressed and angry” at reports of hundreds of rapes against elderly women—but again returns to education, background checks, and political responsibility, rather than the issue of consequences for offenders lacking Swedish citizenship.

The fact that the man who raped the 100-year-old is allowed to stay in Sweden is therefore never addressed by PRO. Despite repeated questions, the issue remains unanswered.

PRO promotes Gingerbread Day. PRO “meets decision-makers,” here with Peter Hultqvist (S). Image: Facebook

“There should be a bounty on someone like that”

Samnytt interviews another nurse assistant who has interned at several elderly homes in the Stockholm area, who also wishes to remain anonymous, but we call her Maria. In light of an Iraqi man being convicted of raping a 100-year-old woman in home care, we first ask for her comment.

– There should be a bounty on someone like that, seriously.

We ask what she thinks about what many have previously argued—that elderly care today is used as an integration tool.

– Yes, that’s exactly how it feels. She continues:

– It’s also so poorly paid. The hourly wage I was offered is 50 SEK less per hour than I get working in a store.

Many say that the reason there are so few Swedes in elderly care is because the state pays part of the salary for “new arrivals”—do you agree with that?

– Yes, I do. Because there are hardly any Swedes left in elderly care. She brings up an example:

– When I interned in home care, I first worked alongside an African woman who had been in Sweden for 18 years. I reacted to how poor her Swedish was and that she complained almost all the time. She had three users, or clients, as they are called, per day. Maria continues:

– Then I worked with a Swedish girl who was absolutely fantastic. She had specialist skills and had nine clients per day, so she was very stressed.

It often happens that managers ignore the elderly’s stories. If the woman had died the following night, I would have been devastated.

Maria, nurse assistant

She believes that injustices also occur in the division of labor.

What happens if a 90-year-old woman needs to tell about something unpleasant that happened and the staff barely understand Swedish?

– No, it’s just not possible.

From the verdict against Shakir Mahmoud Shakir for the rape of a 100-year-old woman. Stock image nursing home. Image: AI

Maria describes a case involving a woman over 90 years old who said she had vomited all night, for the second time in a short period. She also said she had been robbed of money.

– This was a woman who was absolutely clear-minded. I thought it had to be documented. You get dehydrated, so that must be reported. But my supervisor didn’t think so. And she later became manager. Maria continues:

– It often happens that managers ignore the elderly’s stories. If the woman had died the next night, I would have been devastated.

Why do you think the elderly are ignored?

– Because people don’t care, maybe. But also the language barrier—they don’t understand what the elderly are saying.

Have you experienced that staff hesitate to report colleagues for fear of conflict, reprisals, or accusations of racism?

– Yes, I have.

She says that she herself dares to speak up, which has had consequences—her supervisor has at times become “furiously angry” at her for speaking up—but others may not have such strength and prefer to submit.

– Imagine someone who is a bit afraid of conflict; then you stay silent and nothing happens.

The elderly: “something that’s annoying”

We ask Maria who ultimately bears responsibility for such an incident with the 100-year-old.

– First and foremost, it’s obviously the perpetrator. But I think with such a person, with that kind of behavior, there must have been warning signs long before. Someone probably noticed earlier, but it wasn’t taken seriously.

She believes that the elderly in Sweden “have just become something annoying.”

Do you see a link between lack of oversight, integration policy, and these sexual crimes against the elderly that are now being uncovered?

– Yes, absolutely.

If you were 90 years old yourself, would you feel safe with today’s elderly care?

– No, I wouldn’t. That’s why I say I don’t want to grow old in Sweden.

The interview with the PRO secretary-general exposes a clear gap between the issues raised by a concrete legal case and the answers the organization chooses to give. Despite Samnytt repeatedly returning to the question of penalties and deportation, the reasoning stays at an overarching level—leaving responsibility and consequences for the perpetrator untouched.

At the same time, testimonies from nurse assistant Maria paint a picture of everyday life marked by language barriers, low pay, fear of reprisals, and lack of follow-up as recurring elements.

Together, the interviews provide two parallel pictures of Swedish elderly care—the organizational one, where problems are formulated in terms of systems and processes, and the practical one, where the consequences are felt by the very old behind closed doors.