Funeral associations in Sweden want to acquire enough land to do something they hope they never have to do: bury thousands of people in the event of war.
The search follows recommendations from the National Secretariat of the Church of Sweden, which reflect the crisis preparedness guidelines of the Swedish Civil Protection Agency (MSB) and the Swedish Armed Forces.
The preparedness guidelines have been cast in a new light by Sweden’s decision to join NATO and tensions with Russia in the Baltic Sea region.
According to Church of Sweden regulations, supported by statutory paragraphs in the Swedish Burial Act, burial associations are responsible for ensuring that, if necessary, there is enough land available to bury approximately five percent of the population within a parish.
The Gothenburg Funeral Association, which operates in Sweden’s second largest city, is currently trying to overcome the challenge of acquiring at least 40,470 square meters of land to ensure that urgent coffin burials for around 30,000 dead can be carried out in the event of war. In addition, there is an additional 60,700 square meters of land needed to build cemeteries for regular use in Gothenburg.
“The (recommendations) mean that we need more land for burial sites, and that is a phenomenon in the big cities and a problem in the big cities, where land resources are scarce to begin with and are not always sufficient to meet the need for burial sites in the first place “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 over land use in Gothenburg, the funeral association has identified a large area suitable for building a large cemetery for the intended purpose.
Get breaking national news
If you want to receive news that affects Canada and around the world, you can sign up for breaking news alerts delivered to you as soon as they happen.
However, a lengthy approval and construction process means completion could take around ten years, presenting further challenges in uncertain times.
Meanwhile, the Swedish Civil Protection Agency (MSB) continues to emphasize the importance of crisis preparedness and highlights the efforts of the Swedish Church.
“Back in 2015, the government commissioned various agencies to start planning for civil defense again and many organizations have started planning, with the Church of Sweden at the forefront of this planning,” said Jan-Olof Olsson, Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) expert at MSB.
“Unfortunately, we are increasingly reminded that war can happen and that we simply have to be prepared for it,” Olsson said.
Sweden had pursued a policy of neutrality since the early 19th century, including during World War II.
But in 2022, public opinion changed sharply after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, leading Sweden and Finland to apply to join the Ukraine out of concern about the threat from their new aggressive Russian neighbor across the Baltic Sea transatlantic alliance.
Sweden and Finland sent updated civilian readiness guides in November with instructions on how to survive war. The guidebooks are similar to those in Denmark and Norway, but do not mention Russia by name.
&Copy 2024 The Canadian Press
