Sweden

 

Migration policy

The Government’s objective is to guarantee a migration policy that is sustainable in the long term and safeguards the right of asylum and, within the framework of regulated immigration, facilitates cross-border mobility, promotes needs-based labour immigration, makes use and takes account of the impact of migration on development and deepens European and international cooperation.

Migration management

The Ministry of Justice (Division for Migration and Asylum Policy) is responsible for issues on migration and asylum policy which covers areas related to refugee and immigration policies, asylum, returns, support to reintegration and the connection between migration and development. It also includes international cooperation on these issues. The Swedish Migration Board is the administrative agency responsible in the area of migration, that is to say, issues concerning residence permits, work permits, visas, reception of asylum seekers, returns to countries of origin, citizenship and repatriation. Also active in the area of migration are the migration courts, the Migration Court of Appeal, the police authorities, the Swedish Prison and Probation Service, the Swedish Public Employment Service and Swedish diplomatic missions abroad. Migration activities cost around SEK 7 billion a year. In addition, the county administrative boards negotiate with the municipalities on the reception of people in need of protection and other aliens. The Swedish Migration Board pays some SEK 5 billion each year in remuneration to municipalities for receiving migrants.

An important objective for the Government is to shorten the waiting time for asylum seekers.

The Swedish Migration Board has continued to carry out successful development work in order to achieve this. In two years (2008-2010), the waiting time in the first instance has been shortened by several months using a new method of working. Simultaneously, a comprehensive effort is being made to develop and improve management efficiency in the field of migration, for example through e-administration. During 2010, the Swedish Migration Board made it possible for people to submit an electronic application when applying for citizenship.

Sweden held the EU Presidency the second half of 2009. Among the main priorities in the area of migration and asylum was the establishment of the European Asylum Support Office, the question of unaccompanied minors, the initiative to establish a common EU resettlement scheme, and continued efforts to implement and further develop the EU Global Approach on Migration. Sweden focused during its presidency also on the connection between migration and development and organized a ministerial conference on the theme: “Labour Migration and its Development Potential in the Age of Mobility”,

Preliminary statistics for 2011

In 2011, 29 648 people sought asylum in Sweden, which is a decrease of seven per cent compared with 2010. The number of unaccompanied children seeking asylum in Sweden has increased steadily over recent years; in 2011, 2 657 unaccompanied minors applied for asylum. The Swedish Migration Board also works with resettlement of refugees or persons otherwise in need of protection. In 2011, the Swedish refugee quota totaled 1 900 people.

Migration history

During the great emigration in 1850 to 1930, 1.3 million people emigrated from Sweden to the United States, Canada, South America and Australia. Since then, Sweden has always, with very few exceptions, had a larger annual immigration than emigration.

Due to the Second World War, Sweden went from being a country of origin to a country of destination for migration. The refugees mainly came from Germany, the Nordic countries and the Baltic States. After the Second World War, many returned to their home countries, while others – mostly from the Baltic countries – decided to stay in Sweden. In the 50’s and 60’s migration to Sweden consisted primarily of labour migrants from Scandinavia, Italy, Greece, Yugoslavia and Turkey.

In the late 60’s the system of managed migration was introduced by the Swedish Parliament, meaning that residence permits needed to be obtained before entering the country. Changed conditions for labour migration meant that a job offer had to be given before coming to Sweden and permissions were only granted if foreign workers were needed in the specific sector. Exceptions to the rule were people from the Nordic countries, refugees and families uniting or reuniting in Sweden. As a result of the new regulation the number of labour migrants from countries outside Scandinavia decreased. On the contrary, migration from Scandinavia, and mostly from Finland, increased dramatically under the same period.

In the mid-80’s, the number of asylum seekers from Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey and Eritrea increased in Sweden as well as migrants from Somalia, Kosovo and the former Soviet Union. The collapse of communism in Eastern Europe facilitated for people to leave their home countries.

As an effect of the Balkan war in the 90’s, more than 100 000 people from the former Republic of Yugoslavia, mostly from Bosnia, had to leave their home countries for Sweden. In the end of the millennium, Sweden and other countries supported UNHCR in the evacuation of 3 600 Kosovo Albanians from Macedonia to Sweden.

In 1995, Sweden became member of the European Union but it was first in the beginning of 2000 that migration became a policy area within the EU-competence. In 1999, the European Council began discussing the grounds for a common asylum and migration policy. In 2001, Sweden became full member of the Schengen cooperation.

The number of asylum seekers who came to Sweden in the early years of the 2000s increased. The first decade of the 2000s was characterized by asylum seekers who originated from Iraq, Somalia, the Balkans and Afghanistan. During the first decade, Sweden, with some exceptions, has been one of the five largest recipients of asylum applications in the EU, the Swedish share having varied between 8-12 per cent.

Recent developments in the asylum and migration field

Temporary law contributed to immigration records in 2006
After a long and intense public debate in 2005, the Swedish Parliament adopted a temporary law which allowed rejected asylum seekers, who had never left Sweden after receiving negative decision on their asylum application, to get their decisions reviewed once again. More than 30 000 people were reviewed under the regulation and in 56 percent of the cases the applicants received permanent or temporary residence permits. As an effect of the temporary law, 96 800 people immigrated to Sweden, which was the highest number in Sweden’s history.

New appeals system

In March 2006, the most significant legal reform in decades was carried out when the Aliens Appeals Board was replaced by migration courts. Since 2006, it has been possible to appeal against decisions taken by the Swedish Migration Board in alien and citizenship cases in the migration courts and, as a final and precedent-setting resort, in the Migration Court of Appeal. The county administrative courts in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö are migration courts and the Administrative Court of Appeal in Stockholm is the Migration Court of Appeal. When a decision is appealed, there is a court action between two parties, the Swedish Migration Board and the applicant. An applicant may be granted an oral hearing in the migration court corresponding to the general procedure at administrative courts. However, the main focus of hearings in alien cases must lie with the first instance, i.e. the Swedish Migration Board.

New rules for labour immigration

In order to promote cross-border mobility and to make use of the knowledge and experience of labour immigrants new rules for labour immigration to Sweden have entered into force on 15 December 2008. The new Swedish labour immigration legislation is one of the most modern and flexible in Europe. It is demand-based and allows persons from all categories of employment to enter Sweden if they have employment and decent working conditions. Given that the system is demand driven, no quotas are issued for how many persons are to be given work permits per year. During the past two years the new rules have been in force, approximately 14 000 labour immigrants have come to Sweden annually, for a long or short period of time. Over a third of these are people with higher education, while about half have little or no formal education.

The Swedish Institute has created a web portal to spread the information of the new rules on labour immigration: www.workinginsweden.se

Circular migration

Circular migration – temporary or more long-term and often recurring moves between two countries– is a migratory pattern that can help meet labour needs in recipient countries and have a positive impact on development in countries of origin, as well as benefiting the migrants themselves. In July 2009 the Government decided to appoint a parliamentary committee to examine how people’s increased mobility to and from Sweden can be made

easier and how circular migration’s positive effects on development can be promoted.

The Committee submitted an interim report on 27 May 2010. The interim report contained a survey and description of the conditions for migration to and from Sweden and an analysis of the link between migration and development. Its final report was submitted on 31 March 2011.

For more information on the Swedish migration policy visit www.sweden.gov.se or/and www.migrationsverket.se

 Sweden Annual Policy Report 2010 

2012

2011