Arabs in Sweden are Swedish citizens or residents of Arab ethnic, cultural and linguistic heritage or identity from Arab countries, who emigrated from their native nations and currently reside in Sweden.
Contents
Migration history
Many of the Arabs in Sweden are refugees from Syria, Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Jordan and Yemen.
In September 2013, Swedish migration authorities ruled that all Syrian asylum seekers will be granted permanent residency in light of the worsening conflict in Syria. Sweden is the first EU-country to make this offer. The decision means that the roughly 8,000 Syrians who have temporary residency in Sweden will now be able to stay in the country permanently. They will also have the right to bring their families to Sweden. While Malek Laesker, vice-chair of the Syrian Arabian Cultural Association of Sweden, welcomed the decision, he also warned it could create problems. "The fact that Sweden is the first country to open its arms is both positive and negative," he told the TT news agency, explaining that it may be a boon for the growing people-smuggling market.