Syrians in Sweden are citizens and residents of Sweden who are of Syrian descent. As of 2019, there were 191,530 residents of Sweden born in Syria, and 50,620 born in Sweden with at least one Syrian-born parent.[3] Sweden hosts the largest number of Syrian refugees outside of Middle East, aside of Germany.[4]
History
Even before the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Sweden had a significant population of Syrian migrants, with religious and ethnic minorities such as Assyrians over-represented. Many opponents of the Syrian regime under Bashar Al Assad, especially Syrian Sunni Muslims and Palestinians have lately sought refuge in Sweden.
The refugee crisis began in 2011, when thousands of Syrian citizens fled across the border into neighboring Turkey and Lebanon as a result of bombings, ethnic persecution and religious persecution. A total of 4.9 million people have fled Syria from April 2011 to December 2015. The majority of those who have fled are in neighboring countries, mainly Turkey (2.5 million Syrian refugees), Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq, often in tent camp.[5] According to Statistiska centralbyrån there were a total of 242,150 people in Sweden in 2019 who were born in Syria or have at least one parent who was. Those born in Syria make up the largest group of foreign-born in the country.[6][7]
Living conditions in Syria have been described as inhumane by the UN and human rights organizations.[8][9] The brutal situation in Syria is one of the reasons to people choosing to flee to, among other places, Sweden.[10][11] The picture shows a neighborhood in Aleppo October 2012, where three car bombs took place.
Of those who immigrated from Syria, the vast majority or 78% had arrived in the years 2014–2018.[12]
Most Syrians residing in Sweden arrived as asylum seekers following the Syrian Civil War, which began in 2011. According to Statistics Sweden, as of 2016, there 116,384 citizens of Syria (70,060 men, 46,324 women) residing in Sweden.[14] There are an estimated 18,000 of the latter immigrants living in Södertälje.[15] As of 2016, 5,459 Syrian citizens (2,803 men, 2,656 women) residing in Sweden are registered as asylum seekers.[16] In 2016, there were 39 registered emigrations from Sweden to Syria.[17]
Education
In 2010, there were 18,292 students with Arabic as their mother tongue who participated in the state-run Swedish for Immigrants adult language program. Of these pupils, 3,884 had 0–6 years of education in their home country (Antal utbildningsår i hemlandet), 3,383 had 7–9 years of education in their home country, and 11,025 had 10 years education or more in their home country.[18] As of 2012, 18,886 pupils with Arabic as their mother tongue, as well as 3,257 Syria-born students were enrolled in the language program.[19]
According to a report from the Statistiska centralbyrån in 2014, 38% of residents born in Syria had pre-secondary education, 20% have secondary education, 20% have post-secondary education shorter than 3 years and 10% post-secondary education longer than 3 years. [20]
As of 2016[update], according to Statistics Sweden, 35% of Syria-born individuals aged 25 to 64 have attained a primary and lower secondary education level (37% men, 34% women), 22% have attained an upper secondary education level (21% men, 23% women), 21% have attained a post-secondary education level of less than 3 years (21% men, 22% women), 15% have attained a post-secondary education of 3 years or more (16% men, 14% women), and 6% have attained an unknown education level (6% men, 7% women).[21]
Employment
According to Statistics Sweden, as of 2014, the employment rate is approximately 32% for Syrian-born immigrants.[22]
According to the Institute of Labor Economics, as of 2014, Syrian-born individuals residing in Sweden have an employment population ratio of about 28%. They also have an unemployment rate of around 14%.[23]
