Gambians in Sweden are having trouble trusting each other in the face of rising levels of infighting, infidelity-induced broken marriages and unemployment.

A survey by What’s On Gambia revealed that most of them are suspicious of each other in their everyday encounters.

Our editor, who recently moved to Sweden, said: “I live in Dalarna - a region that has a handful of Gambians, but guess what? The few that I met were not interested in starting a friendship with me. May be, they thought I was a back-way migrant looking for someone to offer me a couch to sleep on.”

Some Gambians have a hard time adjusting to this seemingly cold reception from their fellow countrymen.  A back-way migrant, who is currently trying to settle in Sweden, described the Gambian-Swedish community as the most difficult among African migrants.

He said: “Take my word for it. They have a lot of infighting amongst them, failed marriages, unemployment and so on.”

However, a famous musician and former chairman of the Organisation of Gambians in Stockholm (OGIS), Eddie Conta, said: “The issues Gambians face in Sweden are mostly the same issues many Gambians outside of the boarders of The Gambia face.”

According to him, many Gambian communities outside the country lack effective organisations that encourage trust and solidarity amongst them.

“There should be strong organisations. Living in Europe can be very challenging and it is always good if we are there for each other.

“It is common to hear Gambians say: "Be Careful of Gambians", "I don't mingle with Gambians" or "Gambians are evil". These phrases are very disturbing as they are so generalizing. Individuals can be evil but a whole nation of people can’t be. So the counter questions to anyone who throws out such phrases should be: "Are you not a Gambian or do you see yourself as the best Gambian?" Because if you say Gambians are bad, then where does that leave you?”

Sweden has one of the biggest Gambian communities in Europe. Gambians started migrating to the famous Scandinavian country shortly after independence in 1965.