Burial associations in Sweden are looking to acquire enough land for something they hope they’ll never have to do: bury thousands of people in the event of war.
The search follows recommendations from the Church of Sweden’s national secretariat, which reflect crisis preparedness guidelines from the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) and the Swedish Armed Forces.
The preparedness guidelines have been put in a new light by Sweden’s decision to join NATO and tensions with Russia in the Baltic Sea region.
According to the Church of Sweden provisions, supported by legal paragraphs in Sweden’s Burial Act, burial associations are responsible for ensuring the availability of enough land to bury roughly 5 percent of the population within a parish, if needed.
The Goteborg Burial Association, which operates in Sweden’s second-largest city, is currently trying to navigate the challenge of acquiring at least 10 acres (40,470 square meters) of land to ensure it can handle urgent casket burials for some 30,000 dead in case of war. That is in addition to another 15 acres (60,700 square meters) of land needed for building graveyards for regular use in Goteborg.
“The (recommendations) mean that we need more land for burial grounds and this is a phenomenon in the big cities, and a problem in the big cities, where land resources are scarce to begin with and not always sufficient to meet burial ground needs even in times of calm and peace,” said Katarina Evenseth, senior advisor at the Goteborg Burial Association.
Together with the local municipality, which has a monopoly in making decisions about land usage in Goteborg, the burial association has identified a vast area appropriate for building a large-scale cemetery for the intended purpose.
But a lengthy approval and building process means it could take approximately 10 years to complete, posing further challenges in uncertain times.
BOOKLETS: How to Survive a War
Millions of Swedes are now receiving copies of a government pamphlet advising them on how to survive an armed conflict.
The move comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a revised nuclear doctrine declaring a conventional attack on Russia by any nation supported by a nuclear power will be considered a joint attack on his country.
The BBC reports In case of crisis or war has been updated from six years ago because of what the government in Stockholm calls the worsening security situation, by which it means Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The booklet – which comes in a range of languages including English, Farsi, Arabic, and Somali alongside Swedish – is also twice the size.
Neighboring Finland has also just published its own fresh advice online on “preparing for incidents and crises.” Norway is following suit.
Sweden and Finland sent out updated civil preparedness guides in November with instructions on how to survive in war. The guides are similar to those in Denmark and Norway.
The "Main-Stream" media isn't telling you about this; I AM!
Once a month, I come to all of your to help keep real facts, and real free speech, alive for another month.
Please use the widget below to make a donation with your credit or debit card.
I cannot do this alone. Without your help, this whole thing dries up and goes away. Please donate right now.
