I don't think it's something unique to Sweden at all, the UK has had very similar experiences. I think the issue is that (much like with the National Front in

I don't think it's something unique to Sweden at all, the UK has had very similar experiences. I think the issue is that (much like with the National Front in the UK), Sweden previously had an issue with white supremacists (VAM for example), and that became the face of anti-immigrant sentiment. This then meant that legitimate concerns were forced to mix with that (and the extreme groups dominated the political opposition to mass immigration). This has also meant that opposition to immigrants personally (e.g. for their religion, culture, race, or even just not speaking or being Swedish) has been mixed in with the strategic opposition (e.g. it makes no sense to accept another 5+ million immigrants when there are already 7-10 year long public housing queues, and rents and house prices are ballooning). The latter is the biggest issue IMO, it's meant that no political party (aside from SD) dare really touch the issue. And instead they start supporting stupid things like tightening the bureaucracy on legal immigration (greatly affecting Swedes with foreign partners and foreign doctoral students). This is exactly what happened in the UK too (look up the "hostile environment" for legal immigration).