The rise in violence in previously safe Iceland as a result of the government’s ill-conceived migration policy has raised the question of direct interference in the sphere of government authority from the active part of society in this Scandinavian state.
The result of the police’s impotence in maintaining law and order was the formation of a public organisation that challenges the principle of the state’s monopoly on violence—the “Shield of Iceland”—whose members were immediately subjected to vilification by local liberal media.
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“We are individuals who are stepping forward because we have been given enough and we see that the government intends to do things completely different than protect Iceland. The nation has witnessed a terrifying development in society. This development needs to be changed and it is only possible by daring to step forward,” says a statement from Skjaldir Íslands. The group of the same name in social media now has about five hundred members.
“Who get away with incredible behaviour and little or nothing is done and some have harassed and raped girls who thought they could trust taxi drivers. Some of these people do not have the required licenses to drive taxis but still get away with that behavior. We have heard countless stories about the pricing and fraud of these people.”
“And when they have sought help from the police, it is often difficult to get help. This should not be the case. So I ask: When is enough enough? We, the members, call ourselves Icelandic Shield. We have not stopped and we are just getting started. We never give up! We are men who are not afraid of being called racists or right-wing extremists or of our past being brought up and our reputation being destroyed. We are not afraid! Threatening women and children is not an option!”
The police in the capital area say it is a worrying development if individual groups believe they have the authority to engage in police work. A criminologist says news of the establishment of a group that identifies itself with Icelandic Shield shows that xenophobia is growing in Iceland, and that this can never end well.
It was reported yesterday that a group of men, some of whom have serious convictions for violence, have come together and founded the organisation. They say they have had enough of the government’s indifference to asylum seekers and the taxi market, and a picture of the men in downtown Reykjavík wearing the Icelandic Shield and an iron cross has attracted attention on social media.
In response to a news agency inquiry, the police say that this is a worrying development. It can end badly when groups engage in police work, and one crime cannot be justified by another. Criminologist Margrét Valdimarsdóttir says the group’s establishment shows that xenophobia has increased.
“And this is something we would have expected to happen. Because there has been a very rapid growth in immigration in recent years and a rapid growth in asylum seekers, so Icelandic society has changed a lot in a short time, and this is a pattern we know from other countries.” Margrét Valdimarsdóttir agrees with the police that the actions of the Icelandic Shield can end badly.
She says she does not expect the group to provide many with a sense of security in downtown Reykjavík. At the same time, concerns about increased violence in this country are understandable.
“But then it is still important to realise that in reality the best way to reduce violence in Icelandic society is to, for example, just increase funding for the education system, mental health, and law enforcement. Because sexual assault or other violence has always been a part of our society long before the number of asylum seekers or Muslims started to increase here.”
People are free to protest government policies on immigration or law enforcement, but Skjaldur’s actions are not conducive to increasing people’s safety. “But I think this is an example that is not going to end well.”
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