Swedish Iraqis

Iraqis are one of the biggest minority groups living in Sweden. After people from Syria, Iraqis are the second largest group. There are about 145,586 people in Sweden who were born in Iraq, and another 91,119 Swedes have at least one parent born in Iraq. This makes Iraqis one of the largest Asian communities in Sweden.

The number of Iraqis in Sweden grew a lot between 2002 and 2009. This growth happened mostly because many Iraqi refugees came to Sweden after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2006. Many people were looking for safety and a better life away from the conflict in their home country.

Population

Iraqi-born people are the third largest minority group living in Sweden, after the Sweden Finns and the Syrians. They are also one of the largest Asian communities in Sweden.

Sweden is home to Europe's largest community of Iraqi Mandaeans.

Migration history

Iraqi people have come to live in Sweden in four main groups over time. The first group, around 8,000 people, came between 1968 and 1978, mostly Kurds and Assyrians who were leaving a difficult government. The second group, about 10,000 people, arrived between 1980 and 1988, also mostly Kurds and Assyrians, many trying to avoid war.

The third group, around 15,000 people, came between 1991 and 1999, again mostly from Northern Iraq, and many brought their families. The largest group, almost 30,000 people, came after the Iraq War from 2003 to 2010. Many were Sunni Arabs and Assyrian Christians.

After the war began in 2003, many Christian Iraqis fled because they were afraid of being treated badly in their home country. Sweden accepted more Iraqi asylum seekers than any other country in Europe. In 2006, over 9,000 Iraqis came to Sweden, which was four times more than in 2005. Sweden tried to make the rules tighter for people asking for safety in 2007, but in 2008, almost 12,000 Iraqis still came. In 2009, the number went down a little to about 8,400 people.

Refugee status and naturalization

In 2006, Sweden gave protection to more Iraqis than all other European Union countries together. At the start, only a small number of Iraqis were recognized as refugees, but by 2006, almost all of them were.

Sweden decided that Iraqis who had been denied refugee status could still stay in the country permanently. This helped many Iraqis feel safer and start to fit into Swedish life.

Because of Sweden’s generous policies, many more Iraqis applied for help. The number of applications grew quickly from 2005 to 2006, and even more people arrived in early 2007. Most settled in places like Malmö and Södertälje, but sometimes had to live in crowded conditions.

Notable people

Here are some well-known people from the Iraqi community in Sweden:

• Aimar Sher, footballer
• Darin, singer
• Elaf Ali, journalist and author
• Peter Gwargis, footballer
• Mohanad Jeahze, footballer
• Kevin Yakob, footballer
• Bovar Karim, footballer
• Ahmed Yasin, footballer
• Mohamed Said, actor
• Salam Karam, journalist
• Rosa Kafaji, footballer
• Modhir Ahmed, visual artist
• Abir Al-Sahlani, politician
• Hayv Kahraman, artist and painter