Forced Migration in the OIC Member Countries:
Policy Framework Adopted by Host Countries
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the Migration Agency has focused on offering the types of support most beneficial to asylum
seekers who are closest to entering the labor market, generally the high-skilled and
individuals with prior work experience.212 Similarly, the Employment Service has had limited
success identifying strategies to effectively prepare low-skilled refugees, many of whom are
women, to be self-sufficient. Often, low-skilled individuals may end up simply attending
language courses throughout the course of their two year introduction program, as no
education or employment programs are available that are suited to their needs.213 The
question of what to do with lower skilled refugees is only likely to become more urgent,
however; according to the Employment Service, refugees with less than 9 years of formal
education are the fastest growing participant group.214
Education
Education in Sweden is organized and provided by municipalities with financial support and
policy guidance from the national government. All children resident in Sweden (e.g.
recognized protection beneficiaries with residence permits) have a right to access schools and
are obligated to attend through grade 9.215 Since 2002, asylum seeking children have had the
right to enroll in school, but attendance is not mandatory.
In addition to the legal right to attend school, the Swedish school system has implemented a
number of measures designed to ensure that refugee children benefit from and succeed in
their classes.
Access to schools
Schools are required to make an effort to enroll newly arrived children within one month of
their arrival. Reviews by the Swedish Schools Inspectorate (an independent agency tasked
with evaluating schools), however, suggest that most municipalities do not have formal
systems in place to seek out children who are not enrolled in schools—let alone identify them
within one month of arrival.216 As of April 2016, the Migration Agency estimated it could take
between 30 and 70 days for children to start school, depending on the municipality.217
Poor communication between the school systems and the Migration Agency can make the task
of local authorities in placing asylum seeking children in schools even more difficult.
Municipalities often receive little notice before a reception center is opened—in the fall of
2015 some cities received less than a week’s notice218—and the law is not clear on whose
responsibility it is to inform families of the right to enroll their children in school.219 While the
Migration Agency says it provides this information to families,220 municipalities have
complained this isn’t always done.221 Communication can breakdown further when families
move (which has occurred with greater frequency as the Agency has been forced to use
temporary accommodation). As a result, students’ records may not be transferred between
212 Interview with Marten Martensson, Operations Specialist, Reception Unit, Region South, Migrationsverket, April 15, 2016
213 Interview with Jennie Larsson, Integration Researcher, Public Employment Service, April 13, 2016
214 Interview with Jennie Larsson, Integration Researcher, Public Employment Service, April 13, 2016
215 2010 Education Act, Chapter 7(2)
216 Interview with Anna Sandell, Researcher, Swedish Schools Inspectorate, April 15, 2016
217 Interview with Marten Martensson, Operations Specialist, Reception Unit, Region South, Migrationsverket, April 15, 2016
218 Interview with Karin Perols, Association of Communities and Regions, April 12, 2016
219 Interview with Anna Sandell, Researcher, Swedish Schools Inspectorate, April 15, 2016
220 Marten Martensson, Operations Specialist, Reception Unit, Region South, Swedish Migration Agency, April 15, 2016
221 Interview with Anna Sandell, Researcher, Swedish Schools Inspectorate, April 15, 2016