Is it supposed to be offensive?
I seriously thought everyone knew about this!
there are dye stations all along the Swedish/Norwegian border, so any red haired swede who tries to cross the border gets cuffed, stripped and dyed to "Arian Blonde #147" before he gets deported to a fjord.
so there is a big risk that your so called friend is pulling a lie right up your face.
OR he is an escapee, and should therefore be prosecuted, jailed for life, and then get his whole upper body tattoo'd with the pattern of a "Lusekofta" like
this guy.
this information can be found in one of the swedish Gov brocures labeled 1R 0N-Y brochure #26 - "Swedish Norwegian Border"