Proposed camel center slammed in Sweden

Sweden's plans to build a camel park in the Swedish city of Gothenburg, which it hopes will create jobs for migrants, have been slammed as racist by immigrant advocates as reported by the Swedish daily newspaper Göteborgs-Posten.

Over 1.5 million Swedish krona of tax payer money has gone into financing a proposed camel center in the suburb of Angered as the project has been widely condemned.

Leftist immigrant advocates are claiming the project is "racist," "xenophobic" and "islamophobic," while the right perceives it as yet more proof of a clash of civilizations.

Entrepreneur and former Member of Parliament Bert Karlsson reacted strongly against the issue.

"This must be a joke. Are you kidding me?" Karlsson said.

A tourism researcher at Mid Sweden University Maria Lexhagen does not endorse the project it either, saying, "I do not see any great demand for camels, especially in Sweden."

The project, initiated by a man named Géza Nagy, will get most of its income from "tourism."

"There is huge interest in camels both in Sweden and abroad. We expect tourists from around the world, including from Japan and China," Nagy said.

The camel park project aims to both hire immigrants and help to "better integrate them" into Swedish society, even though camels do not naturally inhabit in European climates let alone in Scandinavia. Politicians who support the idea have been accused of being out of touch.

Sweden, with a population of 9.6 million, is Europe's most liberal country in the face of a growing immigrant population. Sweden's liberal policy towards refugees has resulted in a decrease in tolerance in Swedish society toward immigrants.

In the face of a massive influx of immigrants and asylum seekers, Swedish nationalism has been on the rise, as far-right and conservative groups are deeply critical of the center-left government's policies towards immigration.