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Demonstration against the extreme right of Alternative for Sweden in Stockholm, September 7, 2018. TT News Agency / Erik Simander via REUTERS

Immigration is at the heart of the election campaign in Sweden, where the far-right Sweden Democrat Party could become the country's second largest formation. Two days before the vote, in one of the popular districts of Stockholm, the capital, the inhabitants are divided. Report.

From our special envoy to Skärholmen, Juliette Gheerbrant

In Skärholmen, soulless buildings around a large square and a flower seller surround the communal center. In this district which is one of the poorest in Stockholm, as in the country, the vote has been open since 22 August.

" I think it's very important ," Lars Lindberg explains. Because the party of the Swedish Democrats is growing and we have to vote so that they do not gain too much power. I do not like these people, I do not want them to be able to make important decisions for Sweden. And I do not like their speech on immigration issues. This 51-year-old Swede was on the move, but he absolutely wants to vote.

Peter is also convinced of the importance of his vote ... but not for the same reasons. " I think those I want to see in the government need my voice, " said the 62-year-old voter. I want to change government, we need something new. Nothing happens, schools, hospitals ... the only thing is more taxes, more taxes, and nothing in exchange! "

Peter votes for the Swedish Democrats. For him, immigration " is a very big problem ". " Why ?! Well ... go around the place you will see : there is almost no Swede. People come from everywhere, the prices are too high and there is crime ... and the government takes it so lightly ! "

70% of the population is of foreign origin

In this district where 70% of the population is of foreign origin, Lorena Delgado is one of the symbols. This 44-year-old woman was born into a refugee family of the Chilean dictatorship. Lorena is the district president and a member of the left party. During an interview at the café of the place, she remembers 2015, when the wave of refugees surprised the Swedish authorities.

" Obviously for the organization of the city it was a shock, but we made the right decisions, and we reacted very quickly so that everyone is taken care of. And now, I would say it's very quiet, we do not have the big problems we've had in the past . "

Young migrants walk on the E45 motorway from Padborg on the German-German border to Sweden in September 2015. © SCANPIX DENMARK / AFP

The urgency, according to her, is to reduce the time required to process an asylum application, so that people do not stay for four years without doing anything. " We need to be able to give them the tools they need to manage in our country, that's the real question about immigration and not so much the number of people coming in, because Sweden needs these people come to work in the country. The question is how do we make people learn Swedish and find work faster than today ?

Cricket has become very popular in the Scandinavian countries thanks to Afghan and Pakistani migrants who have found a way to reconnect with their roots. © JONATHAN NACKSTRAND / AFP

Work : local companies cooperate

In Stockholm, the unemployment rate for residents born in Sweden is 3.1%, while the foreign-born population is 13.6%. Results to envy many European countries. At the employment agency, Haris Trbonja, responsible to the elegant thirties welcomes. " We do a great job for people who have not been here for a long time, we cooperate very well with local businesses.

" And we now see that the time to find a job when we arrive has halved since 2007. There is of course still a lot of work, problems to solve but I think we are going in the right direction . And integration explains spontaneously, he knows: if he was born in Sweden it's because his parents fled the war in the former Yugoslavia.

Back to Skärholmen square. Amir is sitting on a bench with his friends. He is the Iraq war that his parents fled in the 1990s. And the result of next Sunday worries him. " I'm 19 years old, I live in Sweden and I'm going to vote this year ! If we do not vote racists may win ... and it's good for no one. I was born here, I love this place, and I have never felt uncomfortable in Sweden. But we see more and more racist people and I do not understand why. Of course I'm a little worried : because physically I do not look like a Swede, but inside me, I'm Swedish . "

An identity that Amir will not let anyone challenge him.

An anti-migrant protest of the Nordic Resistance Movement in Stockholm, November 12, 2016. JONATHAN NACKSTRAND / AFP