Child asylum seeker wins hearts with Swedish charity record

An 11-year-old asylum seeker has smashed a charity fundraising record and won hearts across Sweden after he described facing racism while out collecting money, the charity said on Tuesday.

Murhaf Hamid has totted up $233,000 selling paper flower pins in a traditional yearly campaign for the Majblomman (Mayflower) children’s charity after his story went viral on social media.

He even managed to sell a pin to the prime minister.

Children usually raise around 1,300 kronor ($126) selling the floral badges, but Hamid has secured a staggering 2.4 million kronor so far.

The young fundraisers earn a 10 percent commission on the pins they sell and are allowed to keep any tips they receive.

“We have never seen anything like this before, and we’ve been around for more than 100 years,” the charity’s boss Ase Henell told AFP.

Children sell the flowers door-to-door as well as online.

Hamid, who was born in Sweden to Ethiopian parents, said that on his first day out raising funds, some adults told him to get off the street and he sold only a few pins in five hours.

When he told a family friend that he thought it may have been due to racism, they wrote about his efforts on Facebook.

The post went viral and Hamid received a flood of support — but there were also racist comments.

Political leaders, including Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, have since come out in support of Hamid on social media and bought pins from him.

Laila Rahman, the family friend who wrote the viral Facebook post, told AFP she was “still very shocked”.

“I’ve shared a lot of posts before but nothing’s ever gone this viral,” she said, adding that the attention the story was getting was about “so much more than just his sales”.

“It’s also raising awareness for the whole situation with a boy who was born in Sweden almost 12 years ago and his family’s (asylum) application still being processed,” she said.

If parents in Sweden do not have residency status, their children do not automatically qualify by birth.

The Aftonbladet newspaper reported that after his fundraising bonanza, Hamid asked his mother: ‘Is it possible to buy permanent residency?’

“No, unfortunately not,” came the reply.

Hamid, who lives in Glimakra in southern Sweden, said he had initially hoped to earn a little extra pocket money, but never expected to make so much.

His fundraising is not done yet — this year’s Majblomma campaign, which began on April 18, runs until May 3.

The charity helps poor children in Sweden, providing clothing and paying for activities they can’t afford. 

Hamid has already thought about what he’s going to do with the money he makes.

“I’m going to buy myself some clothes, trainers and a few things for my family,” he said.