EU nation tightens border controls amid gang violence

Denmark has pledged to increase police inspections on the Oresund bridge that links it with Sweden
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Denmark is seeking to contain the spread of disorder from neighboring Sweden

Denmark will strengthen border controls with Sweden following a resurgence of gang violence that has spilled over into the country in recent weeks, the Danish justice ministry has said.

Police will increase their controls on trains crossing the Oresund Strait which links the Swedish city of Malmo with the Danish capital Copenhagen and is also the main crossing point between the two nations. The use of camera surveillance will also be stepped up.

“We are increasing surveillance, in part to increase security but also to prevent hired Swedish child soldiers who come to Copenhagen to carry out tasks in connection with gang conflicts,” Peter Hummelgaard, Denmark’s justice minister, said on Friday, as quoted by multiple outlets.

The minister revealed this week that there had been 25 incidents since April where Danish criminal gangs had hired what he called “child soldiers” to commit crimes in the country. Three shootings have been linked to Swedish teenagers in the past two weeks alone, he said.

“Now we are tightening the screws further, also in the short term by strengthening efforts at the border with Sweden,” Hummelgaard stated.

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Sweden has been hit by a growing wave of gang-related shootings and bombings in recent years. According to a Financial Times report, citing Swedish police, powerful criminal gangs often use children to commit murders as they would receive light sentences if convicted. 

Hummelgaard called it “a scary phenomenon” that Danish gangs were hiring young Swedes to do “their dirty work.”

Denmark has taken a tougher approach to immigration and dealing with criminal gangs than its neighbor. Among the measures implemented were the forcible moving of non-Danes out of areas where they are in a majority, as well as the doubling of punishment for crimes.

The justice ministry also said it was strengthening intelligence ties with Sweden by stationing an officer permanently with Stockholm police, and is broadening officer exchanges with law enforcement in southern Sweden. Face-recognition technology could possibly be used for very serious crimes such as attempted murder, according to the ministry.