Forced Migration in the OIC Member Countries:
Policy Framework Adopted by Host Countries
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3.5. SWEDEN106
A substantial share of OIC migrants seeks protection in the asylum systems of non-OIC
countries, including many countries in Europe. Sweden has long been a primary destination
for OIC asylum seekers—who have comprised over 70 percent of asylum applications in
Sweden over the last four years. The treatment of OIC asylum seekers and refugees in
countries like Sweden has an impact both on the individual lives of those moving, as well as
their origin countries and regions. Refugees who become well-established in an asylum
country may remit earnings and may eventually return home if circumstances permit,
bringing with them fresh human capital, ideas, and experiences that can be valuable in
rebuilding their countries.
Sweden's experiences as a major host to OIC forced migrants may also offer policy and
practical lessons to other countries as they seek to develop their asylum and protection
systems. Sweden has long had one of the most efficient and generous asylum systems in the
world, and has been lauded for the high quality of care it provides to recognized protection
beneficiaries. Yet as Sweden found itself a primary destination for the nearly one million
forced migrants and refugees who crossed the Mediterranean to Europe in 2015, its ability to
live up to these high standards was forcefully called into question. Despite a highly advanced
system for managing the flow of asylum cases, assessing claims, and providing shelter, the
160,000 asylum applications Sweden received in 2015 overwhelmed its capacity and,
eventually, prompted significant changes to national legislation to reduce some of its
expansive protection commitments.
Sweden’s efforts to build a robust asylum system—and its struggles as that system was
challenged by unprecedented refugee flows—provide valuable lessons on the key policy and
operational components of a comprehensive protection regime, as well as the continued need
for regional and international solidarity when that system is overwhelmed. This chapter
explores the legal frameworks for granting protection and status to forced migrants in
Sweden, as well as the policies that govern forced migrants' access to and enjoyment of the
social and economic rights that accompany protection. It concludes with observations
regarding the impact of these policies on forced migrants and their Swedish host communities,
with particular attention to the effects of the rapid increase in flows of forced migrants in late
2015.
3.5.1. The Scale and Profile of Forced Migrants
Sweden has a long history of receiving and providing protection to forced migrants. Between
1980 and 2014, Swedish authorities granted residence permits to nearly 478,000 refugees
and others in need of protection.107 Most enter through the asylum system, which allows
foreign nationals to submit a claim for protection with national migration authorities.
Numbers of asylum claims submitted in Sweden have varied substantially over time, and tend
to fluctuate in response to major events in neighboring regions. Asylum applications
increased, for example, during the height of the Yugoslav civil war in 1992 and 1993, during
106 Written by Susan Fratzke, informed by original fieldwork in Stockholm and Malmö in April 2016.
107 Migrationsverket, " Residence permits granted 1980-2014 pursuant to the Geneva Convention, conscientious objectors,
de facto refugees, persons in need of protection, humanitarian reasons , temporary permits, quota refugees, temporary
legislation, previous temporary permits and impediments to enforcement," accessed May 24, 2016,
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