Stockholm / Riots and immigration policy

The unrest has provoked intense soul-searching in a country that prides itself for both its generous welfare state and open immigration policy. Sweden accepted 44,000 asylum-seekers in 2012, up by nearly a half from a year earlier. Among industrial countries, it has the second-largest amount of asylum-seekers relative to its population, according to U.N. figures. Sweden prides itself on treating them well, offering them benefits and housing as well as free Swedish lessons on arrival.

But now some are questioning whether that is enough. The big problem in a suburb such as Husby, where immigrants represent about 80 percent of the population, is unemployment, particularly among the young. Swedish youth unemployment stands at 25.1 percent, about triple the level of overall joblessness. And much of that youth unemployment is concentrated among immigrants from countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan or Syria.

“Sweden isn’t that different to other countries when it comes to problems of integration in larger cities where we have these suburbs with a lot of unemployment,” says Per Adman, an associate professor at Uppsala university. He points out that the media often refers to “unemployed young men” without specifying that they are predominantly immigrants.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor

via Stockholm riots raise questions about immigration policy – The Washington Post.

Related News

• BBC News – Stockholm restaurant torched as riots spread
• Stockholm Riots Continue for Third Night – WSJ.com.
• Stockholm riots spreading, youths burn down cultural centre – The Globe and Mail.