Sweden: The Iraqi refugees

PBS's "Online Newshour" interviewed Iraqis in Sweden. Available with both podcast and transcript.

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FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Haider Al Tamimi, an auto mechanic, is frustrated no one will hire him until he can speak Swedish. He's forced to crowd in with three others in a small apartment amid an acute shortage of public housing.


But for every story like his, some Swedes say they hear about others who don't want to integrate. Peter Frankel is a business consultant in the southern city of Lund.


PETER FRANKEL, Swedish Business Consultant: There are those who miss their homeland so much that they stay in their misery. In their mind, they stay there. And you can see that clearly in the way they dress, in the way they insist on keeping their name, and in reinforcing that and go into conclaves.


FRED DE SAM LAZARO: The conclaves he refers to are immigrant clusters where Hamid Feyli and his wife, Selma Rahim, live. They've spent 15 years here. He has a good job as a carpenter, and three of their four children were born here. Still, they say, they will never be Swedish.


SELMA RAHMAN, Iraqi Immigrant (through translator): Look, we are Muslim. One of the most important orders in Islam is to respect the people, place and culture where you live. When we translate this to practical behavior, it means respect for the law, and this is enough.


HAMID FEYLI, Iraqi Immigrant (through translator): We don't want to stay here. We are going to our Iraq. Our Iraq is rich. Our Iraq is powerful. We have petrol, agriculture. We have everything. We hope only that the leaders will do the right thing. We hope Iraq will be like Sweden. Actually, it could be better than Sweden.


FRED DE SAM LAZARO: But he concedes that repatriation is likely to be years away. That makes retaining one's original identity difficult, especially for the next generation, says the man who founded the Islamic Center of Malmo, which has a mosque, community center, and this government-funded primary school.


BEJZAT BECIROV, Director, Islamic Center of Malmo (through translator): In the second generation, it will change. Parents still hold onto these dreams, but the children don't.


FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Bejzat Becirov's goal is to forge a new Swedish Islamic identity here, leaving behind issues that divided members in their countries of origin.


BEJZAT BECIROV (through translator): This mosque is not imported. It's on Swedish soil, a Swedish model so all Muslims should be able to be here. You cannot bring politics from your own countries here. We're very clear: No politics from other countries, just Swedish politics.


FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Still, this mosque has been firebombed three times in recent years. No one is sure if it's the work of right-wing or Islamic extremists who have called the center "Islam-lite."


Such incidents have raised fear that a segregated, marginalized immigrant community could invite terrorist groups or turmoil, like that witnessed in the Paris suburbs last year. Offsetting those concerns are Sweden's relatively positive history with immigration and that this aging society needs the newcomers, says business consultant Frankel.


PETER FRANKEL: So there's a historic understanding or sense that, given some time enduring it, this will be something positive for Sweden. And we need those people in a lot of jobs. I mean, we really do. I think it's a question of time, and I think there is a strong consciousness of that, even though, of course, for the moment, perhaps for a couple of years, it will be -- it's tough, and it is irritating.


FRED DE SAM LAZARO: One source of irritation, even resentment from all sides, is the fact that the United States isn't taking on more of the refugee burden. Ilmar Reepalu is the mayor of Malmo.


MAYOR ILMAR REEPALU, City of Malmo: Sweden didn't take part in the Iraq invasion. If you look upon the second quarter this year, 4,500 of the Iraqis came to Sweden and were accepted here; 2,500 went to Greece; 400 get to Spain; and 180 to United States, 180. That's half the number that we accepted in Malmo in the same time. How come?


FRED DE SAM LAZARO: The U.S. has promised to sharply increase the number of Iraqis it will admit, but that number will still be a fraction of those who will go to Sweden

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm curious as to why Iraqis choose to go to Sweden? Is it the social welfare system? I heard this story on NPR this morning and was very intrigued.

I am in the United States and I agree that America needs to step up to the plate in accommodating Iraqi refugees..it is because of Bush after all that you were displaced in the first place.

Esther said...

Hi javacat,

There are two issues here:
1. Generous asylum policy
2. Existing Iraqi community

Sweden for the past few years has had a very generous asylum policy, and this encouraged Iraqi to come and try and gain asylum specifically in Sweden. Once there's an existing community, it encourages more asylum seekers to come, through recommendations and contacts of family and friends.

There are so many people coming from Iraq to Sweden and going back to visit family that there are now flights from Iraq to Sweden. This also makes immigration much easier.