Assyrians/Syriacs in Sweden

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Assyrian/Syriacs in Sweden
Total population
(120,000[1])
Regions with significant populations
Södertälje, Stockholm, Göteborg, Örebro, Västerås, Norrköping, Linköping
Languages
Neo-Aramaic, Swedish, (some knowledge of Turkish, Arabic, Kurdish and Persian)
Religion
Assyrian Church of the East, Ancient Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church and Syriac Catholic Church

Assyrian/Syriacs in Sweden mainly came due to ethnic and religious conflicts from Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran that largely corresponds with the Assyrian homeland, including parts of what is now primarily northern Iraq, northeastern Syria, northwestern Iran, and southeastern Turkey.[2] Also, some of the first Assyrians came from other Western Asian countries outside of the Assyrian homeland like Lebanon, Jordan, and Armenia. Those who had already lived in Sweden for a longer period were finally granted residence permit for humanitarian reasons.[3]

Immigration history

The migration to Sweden may be broken up into a number of distinct periods: early settlement and the subsequent waves of migration sparked by the Assyrian genocide in present-day Turkey, the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and, more recently, during the 2000s, an unprecedented immigration wave from Iraq and Syria reached Sweden as a result of the Iraq Wars (Gulf War in 1991, Iraq War in 2003, Iraqi Civil War in 2014–present) and the Syrian Civil War in 2011–present.

Ideological division

There is an ideological division of this group in Sweden between[4]

To account for this division, official Swedish sources refer to the group as "Assyrier/Syrianer", with a slash (similar to the US census, which opted for "Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac").

Assyrian areas in Sweden

Södertälje, a municipality in Sweden, is often seen as the unofficial Assyrian/Syriac capital of Europe due to the city's high percentage of Assyrians/Syriacs.

Sports and Media activities

The Swedish authorities have granted many rights for Assyrian/Syriacs including their own professional football (soccer) teams like Assyriska FF and Syrianska FC. Also, the Swedish authorities have granted the right of Assyrians to broadcast international TV-channels like Suryoyo Sat and Suroyo TV from the Swedish territory.

Notable Swedish Assyrians/Syriacs

References

  1. ↑ [1]
  2. ↑ Reforging a Forgotten History: Iraq and the Assyrians in the Twentieth Century By Sargon Donabed
  3. ↑ Swedish Minister for Development Co-operation, Migration and Asylum Policy, Migration 2002, June 2002
  4. ↑ Dan Lundberg, Christians from the Middle East[year needed][page needed]
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