Migration aspects and issues in Sweden

of adult education to integrate into the society they moved in. However their multiple vulnerabilities such as language, cultural, social and economic difficulties and traumas they faced make their access and participation to adult education more challenging both for themselves and also for the education planners and providers

References

2014-2018 Strategy Paper of Ministry of National Education – General Directorate of Lifelong Learning https://abdigm.meb.gov.tr/projeler/ois/013.pdf.

15 04.07.2007 Prime Ministry Circular,http://www.resmigazete.gov.tr/eskiler/

2007/07/20070704-14.htm. 16 https://e-yaygin.meb.gov.tr/Login.aspx

Carpio and Wagner, 2015, The Impact of Syrians Refugees on the Turkish Labor Market, Policy Research Working Paper 7402, World Bank Group.

OECD, 2010, Entrepreneurship and Migrants, OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs and Local Development

GÖÇMENLER, G. ve SÖNMEZ, G. (2018), MEB Hayat Boyu Öğrenme Genel Müdürlüğü İzleme ve Değerlendirme Raporu (MoNE DGLLL Monitoring and Evaluation Report), MEB, Ankara, Ministry of National Education, Directorate of Lifelong Learning,http://hbogm.meb.gov.tr/dosyalar/izlemedegerlendirmerapor/2018/mobile/index.

2016,’’Entrepreneurial and Intrapreneurial Mindset Development for Highly Skilled Migrants in Europe’’ Research report

The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the content whic h reflects the views only of the authors, and the European Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the inform ation contained therein.

The Northern European region, Scandinavia, is known for its welfare states, egalitarianism, and high quality of life among the population. Migration is inextricably intertwined with the development of the Swedish state and society. In the early 2000s, around 30,000 people applied for asylum in Sweden every year. It increased around 2012 and in 2015 the number of asylum seekers was the highest ever, with over 160,000 people. Many of them were people who fled the war in Syria. Since then, political decisions have affected the possibility of getting to Sweden and the number of asylum seekers has decreased. In 2019, almost 22,000 people sought asylum in Sweden. But even with decreasing in numbers the immigration is what is contributing most to population growth right now. 65 percent of the population increase in 2020 was due to more people immigrating than emigrating17 .

180000 160000 140000 120000

100000 80000 60000 40000 20000 0 Imigration to Sweden

2001

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Man Women Totalt 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

17 https://www.scb.se/hitta-statistik/sverige-i-siffror/manniskorna-i-sverige/asylsokande-isverige/ https://www.scb.se/hitta-statistik/sverige-i-siffror/manniskorna-i-sverige/invandring-tillsverige/

The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the content whic h reflects the views only of the authors, and the European Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the inform ation contained therein.

Most of these recent arrivals have been Syrians, Afghans, and Iraqis. Other large groups include Iranians, Somalis, and Eritreans. Sweden’s foreign-born population has been growing for many decades.

As of 2017, Statistics Swedenreported that around 2,439,007 or 24.1% of the inhabitants of Sweden were from a foreign background: that is, each such person either had been born abroad or had been born in Sweden to two parents who themselves had both been born abroad.[30] Also taking into account people with only one parent born abroad, this number increases to almost a third in 2017.

What are possibilities for migrants to be more integrated in labor market

The goal of integration policy in Sweden is that everyone should have equal rights, obligations and opportunities. However the statistic show that we are far from that goal. Sweden has the highest proportion of employees in Europe. At the same time, the differences in the labor market in Sweden between foreign-born and domestic-born are greater than in the rest of Europe. It takes about nine years before half of those who have immigrated to Sweden have established themselves in the labor market. Unemployment for those born outside Europe is over 50 percent.

There are different initiatives and programs both on national and municipal level to reduce segregation by providing various support to migrants. The Swedish Public Employment Service (Arbetsförmedlingen) is leading agency to assist newcomers to integrate themselves into the society. Etableringsprogrammet, the establishment programme is a support in the form of activities and education for certain newly arrived immigrants. The aim is to become self-sufficient as quickly as possible. Apart from Swedish language course there are variety of activities:

● social orientation course

● courses at different levels

● work experience placement

The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the content whic h reflects the views only of the authors, and the European Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the inform ation contained therein.

● help and guidance for those who are considering starting own business18

The municipalities provide more local oriented support by:

• Offer premises and coordination resources for groups and meetings.

• Employ a few key people, both at the municipality and within

organizations, with coordination responsibilities.

• Work locally with civil society to open up languages

cafés, women's groups, preschool groups, “friend” networks, handicraft groups, computer training, health counseling, parenting courses, swimming lessons and more.

• Call network meetings.

All above mentioned initiatives aimed to give knowledge and resources for newcomers being able to integrate themselves to labor market.

However not all programs shows effectiveness and sometimes lucking practical approach in providing services. In the Budget Bill for 2020, the Government announced the introduction of an ‘intensive year’ for newly arrived immigrants. This is part of their ‘new start’ in Sweden, and will help them to enter the labour market more quickly. The aim is that, after the ‘intensive year’, the participants’ skills should match labour market needs and they should be able to find work within one year of beginning the ‘intensive year’.

Funds for the ‘intensive year’ were allocated in the Budget Bill for 2020, including in Arbetsförmedlingen’s administrative appropriation. An additional SEK 100 million to Arbetsförmedlingen’s administrative appropriation is now being proposed in the Budget Bill for 2021 to ensure effective implementation.

18 https://arbetsformedlingen.se/other-languages/english-engelska/extra-stod/att-delta-iprogram/etableringsprogrammet

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In its Budget Bill, the Government proposes additional funding of SEK 25 million in 2021 for promotion funds to the Delegation for the Employment of Young People and Newly Arrived Migrants (Dua). This is to enable collaboration between municipalities and Arbetsförmedlingen to be maintained and developed. Dua’s efforts to promote collaboration between municipalities and Arbetsförmedlingen are important for young people and newly arrived immigrants, who are able to benefit from the joint initiatives of municipalities and Arbetsförmedlingen, including initiatives in collaboration with employers in ‘local job tracks’.

On 17 September 2020, the Government decided to extend Dua’s assignment until 31 December 2021.

Which issues facing adult educators working with migrants

Everyone agrees that knowledge of the Swedish language is a cornerstone of a successful integration. Sweden offers a national free Swedish language course to most categories of immigrants. However, there is criticism from many municipalities that today's SFI (Swedish for immigrants) is too rigid, emphasizes grades and complete study plans too much and that the real language learning comes out in Swedish society, in the labor market.

Migrants are coming with different background both educational and cultural. Many comes with very negative personal experience that may became barrier in successful integration. Educators may become limited by those resources and programs that currently available and may not work properly in some circumstances, or cannot be applied to some group of people. For example, those who never worked in their life or missed essential study are getting serious challenges with attending classes or performing tasks. Educators need wider variety of approaches and programs to still show them ways to integrate into society and labor market.

Alternating SFI (Swedish for immigrants, the national program) with internships / work is a model that more and more municipalities are investing in. A major societal challenge, say several municipalities, are young people with low basic education who come to Sweden as

The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the content whic h reflects the views only of the authors, and the European Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the inform ation contained therein.