12 år sedan
New study increases knowledge on Iraq-Sweden migration
When Iraqis migrate to Sweden, social networks are their primary information source. The duration of migrants’ residence permits and the sort of jobs the migrants get have important implications for their integration. These are some conclusions from The New Way In, a Migrant Perspective, based on interviews with 45 Iraqi migrants, carried out by Global Utmaning as part of the project “A New Way In”.
Why do people choose Sweden as their migration destination? What do prospective migrants know about Sweden? From where and from whom do they acquire information? To what extent is migrant integration influenced by the choice of migration channel? And how can Swedish authorities, such as the Swedish Migration Board and the Swedish Public Employment Agency, more efficiently reach prospective migrants with information about the possible ways of coming to Sweden for work? These are some of the questions that the project “A New Way In” seeks to answer. The project is managed by the Swedish Migration Board with financing from the European Integration Fund and with Global Challenge (Global Utmaning) and the Swedish Public Employment Agency as project partners. The project started in October 2011 and will be concluded in June 2013.
The objective of the interview study was to collect new information on the factors that steer the choice of migration path and destination, and to explore how the prospects for integration are influenced by this choice.
“Since 2008, Sweden has a new and more liberal labour migration system. This has opened up a new channel into Sweden and can be seen as an alternative to coming here as an asylum seeker for certain migrants,” says Lisa Pelling, program manager for migration at Global Utmaning.
The interviews show that Iraqis is Sweden often have not had the option of freely choosing between different ways of migrating. They have often left their homes hurriedly and under great pressure. A majority of the respondents did not know of the possibility to apply for a work permit at all before leaving Iraq.
Informal information dissemination
A clear finding is that migrants’ social networks of family and friends are a critical information source when the decision of where and how to migrate from Iraq is made. But professional intermediaries such as smugglers also serve as important information providers.
“Even if authorities like the Swedish Migration Board provide detailed written information, migrants trust their social networks the most” says Lisa Pelling.
The possibility of coming to Sweden on a work permit is not widely known among prospective migrant, the interviews show. A reason for this is that the reform is still relatively new. Given the critical importance of the social networks in conveying information to migrants, Lisa Pelling believes that the Swedish Migration Board needs to make use of more informal information channels.
“If we want to reach out with information about this, the best way to go is via Iraqis already living in Sweden. But obviously this should only serve as a complement to formal information channels” says Lisa Pelling.
A vulnerable group on the labour market
The interviews also show that the migrants’ integration prospects are influenced by what type of residence permit they are granted in Sweden, and who their employers are.
“As an asyulm seeker you can get a permanent residence permit right away, but as a migrant worker you have to renew your permit after two years – and only about half the migrant workers meet the requirements for doing so” according to Lisa Pelling.
Migrants from Iraq are most frequently found in occupational sectors characterised by a surplus of labour. This reinforces the migrant workers’ dependency on their employers and increases their vulnerability when the permit is due to be renewed.
“Migrant workers from Iraq are in a vulnerable situation, and it is particularly difficult for the group of Iraqis who feel they do not have the option of returning to Iraq” says Lisa Pelling.
The study’s finding are relevant for traditionally refugee sending countries, from where labour migrants mainly go to work in occupations experiencing no shortage of labour or specialist competence.
“There is after all a huge difference between coming to Sweden as an IT-specialist and coming here as a kitchen assistant in a restaurant,” Lisa Pelling says.
Earlier information important
An additional conclusion is that migrants coming to Sweden as asylum seekers should recieve information about the possibilites for changing their status from asylum seeker to labour migrants earlier in the process.
“It would facilitate for migrants in case of a rejection on their asylum application if this information was transmitted as early on in the immigration process as possible,” concludes Lisa Pelling.
The New Way In – a Migrant Perspective, written by Lisa Pelling and Veronica Nordlund
This project in financed by the European Integration Fund
