XPost: 24hoursupport.helpdesk, alt.politics.scorched-earth, uk.politics.misc   
   XPost: uk.legal, alt.politics.uk   
   From: burfordTjustice@tues.uk   
      
   Swedish city Gothenburg is building a camel park which it hopes will create   
   jobs for migrants, bu the plans have been slammed as racist and “absurd”   
   by a charity boss.    
   The city hopes the camel centre being built in the migrant-dominated suburb of   
   Angered will be able to provide jobs for foreign residents who are otherwise   
   struggling to find a place in the country’s labour market.   
      
   The camel park is part of a wider project to create low-carbon jobs in the   
   area, which was greenlit near the end of last year when the municipality was   
   granted almost 13 million Swedish krona (£1 million) in funding from the EU.   
      
   Project developer Géza Nagy hopes the park, at which visitors will be able to   
   both pet and ride on the camels, will become a popular tourist attraction.   
   “The largest source of income will be from tourism. There is a huge interest   
   in camels both in Sweden and abroad. We expect tourists from around the world,   
   including from Japan and China.   
      
   “We think that Volvo or other companies can photograph their products with   
   camels. We can also have fashion shows and sell various camel products”, he   
   told Göteborgs-Posten.   
   Nagy said there are migrants from the Middle East and Somalia who have   
   “extensive knowledge” of camels, adding that staff will receive training   
   on how to breed and care for camels in the Nordic region.   
   However, according to Caritas director Gun Holmertz, the project is racist and   
   shows a “colonial mindset” towards migrants living in Gothenburg’s   
   suburbs.   
      
   “The project is absurd. [The people behind it] want to make Angered at some   
   kind of exotic circus with immigrants, animals, and allotments that people   
   living in the inner cities can come and watch,”, she said.   
      
   Angered resident Florence Hansen agreed, describing the project as “pure   
   racism”. She said: “If I had wanted to work with animals or crops I would   
   have gone back to Namibia. The money is needed for education, housing, and   
   real jobs.   
      
   “We do not want more animals here. We immigrants are already a stigmatised   
   group – this project is pure racism.”   
      
   Project manager Dan Melander defended the plans, telling  Göteborgs-Posten:   
   “This is definitely not a circus, and we do not claim that this is the   
   solution for the entire northeast. This is just about to test new ways to   
   build economies.”   
      
   Chairman of the city’s resource administration, which gave the camel park   
   funding last year, Marina Johansson defended the project. She said: “We   
   thought it was an exciting integration idea which could lead to jobs, and   
   bring tourists to Angered.”   
      
   And Lena Salo, who backed giving funding to the centre, said: “I’m no   
   expert on camels but I thought there was a basis. If this could lead to people   
   getting a job, especially Somalis many of whom are very much outside the   
   labour market, then I think    
   it’s worth trying.”   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)