Sweden has found itself at the center of the refugee debate in Europe.
On the heels of the sexual assaults that allegedly occurred in Cologne, Germany on New Year’s Eve, several Swedish media sources came forward with allegations that authorities conspired to cover up a wave of attacks perpetrated by Arab youths at a festival held at central Stockholm’s Kungsträdgården last August.
Additionally, there were multiple reports that Stockholm’s main train station is under siege by Moroccan migrant children, who apparently spend their days drinking, assaulting security guards, and accosting women.
Finally, in what likely marked the last straw for many Swedes, a 22-year-old refugee center worker was stabbed to death late last month by a Somali migrant “child” who was later found to be an adult.
(that's the victim, not the migrant child)
Exasperated, some members of the “football hooligan” scene ran amok in the Stockholm train station late last month in an effort to wrest the transportation hub from the iron grip of child migrant gangs.
According to Interior Minister Anders Ygeman, Sweden now plans to deport 80,000 of the 163,000 migrants it sheltered in 2015, but that won’t stop the flow of refugees, which means the country is going to need to find more innovative ways to house the asylum seekers.
Fortunately, Migrationsverket (the Swedish migration agency) has a plan.
They will use luxury cruise ships to store migrants.
"Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet has revealed that one of the contractors which has agreed to provide floating accommodation for the agency, US Shipmanagers, has applied for planning permission to dock the ship, The Ocean Gala, in Härnösand, on the east coast of northern Sweden," The Local reports. "However, local councillors are opposing the bid due to the size of the ship – which would become Sweden's largest accommodation hub for asylum seekers if the plans go ahead."
That's right. The largest refugee center in all of Sweden is set to be the Ocean Gala, which could potentially hold 1,800 refugees. "At more than 185 metres long and with a 26,747 gross tonnage, she was the world's biggest cruise ferry at the time of construction," The Local goes on to note.
There was no word on whether the refugee contango is wide enough to make the floating migrant play profitable.
Officials were also silent on whether, when night falls and the refugees are asleep, The Ocean Gala will set a course for the Mediterranean.