* Over the last few years, the average waiting time has been very long. What happens after immigration remains one of the hottest debates around the country. ‘In Montenegro, the police were known to arrest Muslims and bring them to the Bosnian Serb Army, so we were still not safe and continued to flee into Macedonia.’. He returned to Seattle and again worked in the forest. Thousands of Syrians have fled to Europe in search of better lives, including many close friends of Mouhanad. Gale Wilson. At the end of 1908, Carl stepped onto the train to Copenhagen. ‘I was not yet in danger, but I would have been because barely a year after I left, a few friends of mine became more engaged and committed in overthrowing the dictatorship,’ Silvio says. Migration started early in Sweden. This time mostly to neighbouring Norway, Denmark and other European countries, but also to the US and China. Also excluded are foreigners coming to Sweden to study and certain highly skilled professionals. The Swedish population grew by more than 100,000 in 2014. After completing Swedish high school, she studied journalism at a local Folkhögskola, a form of adult education institution common in Sweden. ‘The most important thing is to learn the language and interact with Swedish people because this is the quickest way to understand local customs and culture.’. I try to see my life here as a new chance,’ she says. Head of the press unit at the Swedish Migration Agency, Fredrik Bengtsson, says: ‘In Europe, Sweden is a key destination and recipient country for asylum seekers.’. For Jorma Latva, the plan was to work a few years in Sweden and then move back to Finland. The main crux of the debate remains how best to integrate migrants from different countries into the Swedish workforce and society, how to provide them with opportunities, make it possible for them to contribute and ensure they have equal rights and meaningful lives. Postcard sent by Carl Emanuel Anell from Seattle to his relatives in Sweden. When Silvio left Chile in 1986 at the age of 23, he was not personally under threat as he was not an activist. Silvio Durán Michea was interviewed by Lola Akinmade Åkerström. This film is a part of the project ‘Homestead – somewhere in Sweden’, by ROT produktion: nagonstansisverige.se. I am sending you the power of attorney on the form you’d sent me. Perhaps I will not require all the money we will see. The challenges that we face back home on a daily basis are not really present here,’ she adds. Today, they have three grown kids and four grandchildren, all of them Vallentuna residents. The riots in some Stockholm suburbs in 2013 put the spotlight on some of the challenges of integration. In the US census he was listed as a ‘logger’ and his addresses were always simple boarding houses near Seattle’s waterfront. ‘Sweden is a place where I can start over and live a respectable life and think of having a job, family and children.’. The recent immigration peak has posed a challenge to the country, but beyond statistics and headlines are personal stories and a complex reality. More alleged was that the legislative system in Sweden regarding refugees’ opportunities to stay was generous. Visit business-sweden.se for information on how to trade with and invest in Sweden. Once brick buildings started popping up all over the country, Italian workers skilled in bricklaying and stuccowork also started moving in. ‘Here, most companies have a flat organisational structure, with few bosses and less need for middle management. The simple flophouses are torn down. ‘I love the fact that there is such a work–life balance, and the system is so efficient.’, ‘I have also lived in Europe and the Middle East and have travelled and lived in a number of countries, so I adapt easily to new environments and new people,’ Linda points out. Fast forward close to 30 years and Silvio has built a stable and more secure life in Sweden. Specific policy initiatives to speed up the labour market integration of newly-arrived refugees could include placing them in municipalities with low unemployment rates, better evaluating their skills, and improving language courses by connecting the courses directly to the needs of the job market. ‘My goal from day one was to get through military service to obtain my passport, to become free, move abroad and study,’ Kamran says. The employment gap between the two refugee categories has been explained by differences in settlement policy. Then the catastrophe hit. Still, the heavy sadness Vildana feels about leaving her home has never left her and she thinks about it often. These figures do not show the employment of reunited family members of refugees, as they are included under the family migration category. Before the war, I lived the same way as any Swedish child, with all the same opportunities as children here.’. In neighbouring Finland, the situation was quite the reverse, with many inhabitants having to look abroad for work. He was back at City Hospital again today after his second unsuccessful attempt this year. The proprietor had detected the odor of gas escaping from the room and when the firemen burst in they found the same man whose life they had saved in a similar situation last February. For roughly two years, he worked with the elderly in the evenings and on weekends while studying Swedish and English during the day. ‘If it was just up to me, I would never have left. He ended up settling down near Stockholm. This website is administered by the Swedish Institute. The peak year of the great emigration was 1887, when more than 50,000 people left Sweden – most of them to the Americas. For a few years starting in 1971, Sweden had more emigration than immigration. AB Svenska Fläktfabriken, an industry leader on air treatment, happened to be on a recruitment trip in Finland and offered Jorma a welding job. Sweden was the existence of financial subsidies for refugees. While many Germans and Scandinavians returned home after the war, many immigrants from the Baltics remained. ‘I have always had a positive attitude and was able to quickly use my Farsi language skills to be an impromptu interpreter at work for Iranians who were having operations or who needed help translating medical terms.’, ‘As I see it, if you yourself have decided to move somewhere, then it’s self-evident to learn the language and culture, to make an effort to fit into society, to contribute, and to want to vote.’, Still, Sweden in many aspects remains intriguing to him. Particular conditions applied and the possibility was time-limited. ‘When there’s peace, you think about things like beauty and design. Everyone in Finland knew that there were plenty of jobs in Sweden.’, ‘Everyone in Finland knew that there were plenty of jobs in Sweden.’. By June that same year, relatives already in Sweden were able to send them plane tickets from Turkey to Stockholm. Her husband and his family and friends are mostly Swedish, and she already had a few Swedish friends prior to moving. A more recent topic for debate concerns beggars, an increasingly common sight on Swedish streets. Zelga is considering both psychology and social work, something that she can use to help other Assyrians, either here in Sweden or back home in Syria. Soon, the Swedes were caught between rebelling farmers and a corrupt, US-backed regime. Sweden struck me as an idealistic country, with resources there for everyone in society. The goal of Swedish integration policies then was to employ and resettle refugees in parts of the country where there was a high demand for labour. Must end for this time. The European Commission’s Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD) is one initiative aiming to help the most vulnerable people, in Sweden as well as in other EU member states. Roma people started immigrating as early as the 1500s, while Walloons – French-speaking people from Belgium – came to Sweden in the late 1600s as the country’s iron industry began to develop. From 1980 through 1989, nearly 7,000 people from Iraq and 27,000 from Iran received residence permits in Sweden as refugees according to the Geneva Convention. In the harbour of Ballard, Seattle, there is a ‘Runestone monument’ with hundreds of names of otherwise unknown immigrants from Scandinavia.