Swedish Academic Wants South Korea to Open Borders to Immigration

Why would anyone want the immigration problems that Sweden has?:

A world renowned scholar has called for gender equality improvements in South Korea, saying it lags behind the country’s economic advancement.

In an interview with KBS on Saturday, Swedish medical doctor and statistician Hans Rosling said United Nations’ data proves that South Korea has become an advanced nation comparable to countries like Japan or Sweden.

However, he said that in the area of gender equality, such as birth rate or the percentage of women politicians, South Korea lags behind Sweden by about 50 years.

He said the traditional thinking that women are in charge of childcare and household chores has not caught up with the nation’s economic development.

Rosling also said that accepting immigrants could be a solution to South Korea’s low birth rate and pointed out that more immigrants not only boosts population but also expands social diversity.  [KBS World Radio]

Here is what this Swedish scholar wishes to impose on Korea:

Sweden takes in more refugees per capita than any other European country, and immigrants – mainly from the Middle East and Africa – now make up about 16 per cent of the population. The main political parties, as well as the mainstream media, support the status quo. Questioning the consensus is regarded as xenophobic and hateful. Now all of Europe is being urged to be as generous as Sweden.

So how are things working out in the most immigration-friendly country on the planet?

Not so well, says Tino Sanandaji. Mr. Sanandaji is himself an immigrant, a Kurdish-Swedish economist who was born in Iran and moved to Sweden when he was 10. He has a doctorate in economics from the University of Chicago and specializes in immigration issues. This week I spoke with him by Skype.

“There has been a lack of integration among non-European refugees,” he told me. Forty-eight per cent of immigrants of working age don’t work, he said. Even after 15 years in Sweden, their employment rates reach only about 60 per cent. Sweden has the biggest employment gap in Europe between natives and non-natives.

In Sweden, where equality is revered, inequality is now entrenched. Forty-two per cent of the long-term unemployed are immigrants, Mr. Sanandaji said. Fifty-eight per cent of welfare payments go to immigrants. Forty-five per cent of children with low test scores are immigrants. Immigrants on average earn less than 40 per cent of Swedes. The majority of people charged with murder, rape and robbery are either first- or second-generation immigrants. “Since the 1980s, Sweden has had the largest increase in inequality of any country in the OECD,” Mr. Sanandaji said.  [Globe and Mail]

Why would anyone in Korea want to sign up for this?