Liz Hayes, ’60 Minutes’ Crew Attacked In ‘Little Mogadishu’ Rinkeby, Sweden [Video]
In late February, Liz Hayes and the 60 Minutes crew were attacked while filming a report on Sweden’s progress and growing pains with refugees, as reported by the Sydney Morning Herald. After accepting almost 165,000 refugees in 2015, Sweden is described as “starting to buckle” from the strain on its infrastructure.
Now, the report that was being filmed, complete with gripping footage of Hayes and members of the 60 Minutes crew being attacked and targeted with projectiles in Rinkeby Sweden, known as little Mogadishu, as reported by the BBC, is available for viewing on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSbgxChQAhQ
The 60 Minutes piece, entitled “Breaking Point,” begins with Hayes riding along in a boat that rescues a group of refugees, including a baby and children, in the Mediterranean, who were headed for Greece. More than 4,000 people have lost their lives attempting to cross the Mediterranean during the current refugee crisis.
“I’ve just returned from Sweden, where something happened that I never would have imagined in such a wonderful country,” Liz Hayes states. “My crew and I were attacked. We had things thrown at us. We were punched and kicked, and my cameraman was run over. Unfortunately, Sweden has become a victim of its own humanity.”
Hayes discusses the photos of Alan Kurdi’s tiny body, washed up along the shore in Turkey that appeared in the Fall of 2015, and an initial outpouring of support for Syrian refugees by the world. Then, a change in attitudes occurred with the Paris attacks and New Year’s Eve incident in Cologne, Germany, as previously reported by the Inquisitr.
Hayes visits a refugee camp on the Island of Lesbos, Greece, staffed entirely by volunteers, which is home to 1,000 refugees, and was originally intended to be only a short stopover point. With other European countries closing their borders, refugees who successfully travel from Turkey to Greece have few options and are faced with camps filled beyond capacity. The Greek island is described as becoming a “prison” for trapped refugees.
Even those who have made it further into western Europe aren’t always faced with less challenging conditions. Liz Hayes reports that Denmark is stripping refugees of cash and valuables to help pay for their expenses; only married couples are said to be permitted to keep wedding rings.
Hayes and her crew can then be seen having a cigarette thrown from a car at them, and a cameraman being run down before the program shifts to discussion of Rinkeby, Sweden, and how it is known as “little Mogadishu” because of its high concentration of residents with Somalian heritage.
After the altercation, Hayes and the 60 Minutes crew call the police, who, upon learning of their presence in the area, decide to stay and guard them.
Later, after the police leave, and the group from 60 Minutes prepares to leave, a group of young males, covering their faces, proceeds to kick, punch and throw at least one object at the party, as other residents attempt to stop them.
“Please, please. We are leaving, but you don’t need to hurt us,” Liz Hayes can be seen pleading with a tall youth to no avail; the punches and verbal assaults continued. The 60 Minutes party appears to only be able to flee the area when another resident, driving a “mobility scooter,” targets one of the most violent youths and hits him head on, diverting the attention of the gang that had been rapidly gaining steam.
[Photo by Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images]
