| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 146,048 (born in Iraq) 79,732 (at least one parent born in Iraq) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Primarily in Stockholm, Södertälje and Malmö [1] | |
| Languages | |
| Swedish and Mesopotamian Arabic also Kurdish (Sorani and Kurmanji dialects), Turkish (Iraqi Turkmen/Turkoman dialects), and Neo-Aramaic (Syriac and Mandaic) | |
| Religion | |
| Mainly Shia Islam, Sunni Islam, Syriac Christianity, Mandaeism (Sweden has one of the biggest Mandaean communities in the world.) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Iraqi diaspora |
Iraqis are the second largest minority group living in Sweden, with 146,048 Iraqi-born people living in Sweden and 79,732 Swedes with at least one Iraqi-born parent. [2] They are also one of the largest Asian communities in the country. [3] The size of this group has doubled in the period of 2002 to 2009; the influx of Iraqi refugees increased dramatically from 2006 to 2009 as a result of the US-led invasion of Iraq.
Iraq-born people are the third largest minority group living in Sweden, after the Sweden Finns (5.1%) and the Syrians (2.4%). [4] [5] They are also one of the largest Asian communities in Sweden. [3]
Sweden also has Europe's largest community of Iraqi Mandaeans. [6]
Iraqi immigrants to Sweden have come in four distinct waves of migration. In the first wave (1968–1978), around 8,000 Kurdish and Assyrian nationalists and Iraqi communists were escaping the Baathist regime. The second wave (1980–1988) of 10,000 people was mainly Kurds and Assyrians escaping the Al-Anfal Campaign and Iraqi men escaping forced conscription in the Iran–Iraq War. The third wave (1991–1999) was about 15,000 people, again mostly Kurdish and Assyrian people from Northern Iraq; most came with families. The largest numbers, almost 30,000 people, of Iraqis in Sweden today have migrated as a consequence of the Iraq War of 2003 to 2010; most are Sunni Arabs and Assyrian Christians.
Christian Iraqis, fearing persecution in their homeland, made up a large part of that influx after Iraq occupation in 2003. [5] Sweden accepted more than half of all asylum applications from Iraqis in Europe. In 2006, over 9,000 Iraqis fled their country and came to Sweden seeking shelter, a fourfold increase over 2005. [7] In 2007, Sweden attempted to throttle the influx of Iraqi refugees by tightening the rules for asylum seekers, [5] but in 2008 there were again record numbers of Iraqi immigrants, close to 12,000. In 2009, the number of immigrants fell again slightly, to 8,400.
Iraqi-born persons in Sweden by year: [8]
| 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
| 49,372 | 55,696 | 62,751 | 67,645 | 70,117 | 72,553 | 82,827 | 97,513 | 109,446 | 117,919 | 121,761 | 125,499 | 127,860 | 128,946 | 130,178 | 131,888 | 135,129 |
In 2006 Sweden granted protection status to more Iraqis than in all other EU states combined. In 2005 only 0.1 percent of Iraqis were recognised as refugees, but the total recognition rate including those granted complementary protection was a relatively high 24 per cent. In the year 2006 however, recognition rates leapt to a total of 91 per cent. [1]
The Swedish Migration Board decided in early 2006 that all Iraqi asylum-seekers from Central and Southern Iraq whose claims had been rejected as part of the normal status determination process would nevertheless receive a permanent residence permit, allowing the majority of Iraqis in Sweden to begin the process of fully[ citation needed ] integrating into Swedish society with a secure legal status.
In the context of the generally low recognition rates for Iraqis in other EU states,[ citation needed ] Sweden's generosity led to a surge in the number of applications received from Iraqis. Figures increased from 2,330 in 2005 to 8,951 the following year, with a further 1,500 new arrivals per month in the first half of 2007. Most of these persons have joined the existing Iraqi community in Sweden in municipalities such as Malmö and Södertälje, with the scale of the influx to these areas forcing newcomers to live in very poor conditions. Speaking in June 2007, Södertälje's mayor Anders Lago described the situation as being close to breaking point, with the authorities barely able to provide basic services and many newcomers sharing apartments with up to fifteen people. [1]
The Assyrian diaspora refers to ethnic Assyrians living in communities outside their ancestral homeland. The Eastern Aramaic-speaking Assyrians claim descent from the ancient Assyrians and are one of the few ancient Semitic ethnicities in the Near East who resisted Arabization, Turkification, Persianization and Islamization during and after the Muslim conquest of Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey.
The Kurdish population is estimated to be between 30 and 45 million. Most Kurdish people live in Kurdistan, which today is split between Iranian Kurdistan, Iraqi Kurdistan, Turkish Kurdistan, and Syrian Kurdistan.
Minorities in Iraq include various ethnic and religious groups.
Religion in Iraq dates back to Ancient Mesopotamia, particularly Sumer, Akkad, Assyria and Babylonia between circa 3500 BC and 400 AD, after which they largely gave way to Syriac Christianity and later to Islam.
Iraqi Americans are American citizens of Iraqi descent. As of 2015, the number of Iraqi Americans is around 145,279, according to the United States Census Bureau.
German Assyrians are Germans of Assyrian descent or Assyrians who have German citizenship. The Assyrians in Germany mainly came from Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria.
Refugees of Iraq are Iraqi nationals who have fled Iraq due to war or persecution. In 1980- 2017, large number of refugees fled Iraq, peaking with the Iraq War and continuing until the end of the War in Iraq (2013–2017). Precipitated by a series of conflicts including the Kurdish rebellions during the Iran–Iraq War, Iraq's Invasion of Kuwait (1990) and the Gulf War (1991), the subsequent sanctions against Iraq (1991–2003), culminating in the Iraq War and the subsequent War in Iraq (2013–2017), millions were forced by insecurity to flee their homes in Iraq. Iraqi refugees established themselves in urban areas in other countries rather than refugee camps.
The Christians of Iraq are considered to be one of the oldest continuous Christian communities in the world.
Kurds in the United States refers to people born in or residing in the United States of Kurdish origin or those considered to be ethnic Kurds.
Iraqi Australians are Australian citizens who identify themselves to be Iraqi descent. Since the 1991 Gulf War, thousands of Iraqis have found refuge in Australia. The total of population is estimated to be as high as 95,000. A Considerable part of Australia's Iraqi-born population doesn't claim Iraqi ancestry with most being Assyrian.
The number of Iraqis in Greece is unclear since numbers fluctuate greatly over time. as of 2007, Greece hosted 1,400 Iraqi refugees. Proving helpful, Greece offered one million dollars to Iraq for humanitarian purposes, this may be because they do not want to take in any refugees, as it was reported that Iraqis trying to enter Greece from Turkey are most definitely likely to be sent back to Iraq. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has confirmed that a group of 135 Iraqis were arrested while preparing to cross into Greece have been sent back to Iraq. As Greece has the toughest migration policy in Europe, allowing only less than one percent of applications through.
British Iraqis are British citizens who originate from Iraq.
The Iraqi diaspora refers to native Iraqis who have left for other countries as emigrants or refugees, and is now one of the largest in modern times, being described by the UN as a "humanitarian crisis" caused by the 1991 Gulf War and 2003 invasion of Iraq and by the ensuing war.
Since the late 1970s until the present, Iraq has witnessed numerous waves of refugees and emigrants due to significant events in its modern history. These events have led to the displacement of millions of Iraqis. These include over three decades of repression, periodic violent attacks, and massacres targeting the Kurdish population in the north and the Shi'a in the south, all carried out by Saddam Hussein's regime. Other factors include the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), the Gulf War of 1991, the prolonged economic sanctions until the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, and the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.
Swedish Iranians or Swedish Persians consist of people of Iranian nationality who have settled in Sweden, as well as Swedish residents and citizens of Iranian heritage. As of 2019, there were 80,136 residents of Sweden born in Iran, as well as 40,883 born in Sweden with at least one Iranian-born parent.
Iraqis in Turkey includes Turkish citizens of Iraqi origin, Iraqi-born citizens and Iraqi expat workers.
The problem of Kurdish refugees and displaced people arose in the 20th century in the Middle East, and continues today. The Kurds, are an ethnic group in Western Asia, mostly inhabiting a region known as Kurdistan, which includes adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.
Sweden is home to one of the largest communities of the Mandaean ethnoreligious group, numbering between 10,000-20,000 people (2019). By comparison, there are now only about 3,000 Mandaeans in Iraq. Several thousand Swedish Mandaeans were granted asylum status as refugees from persecution in Iraq and Syria.
Iraqis in Germany include migrants from Iraq to Germany, as well as their descendants. The number of Iraqis and Iraqi-Germans in Germany is estimated at around 310,000 people. The Iraqi community is ethnically, culturally and linguistically diverse and includes Mesopotamian Arabs, Kurds, Iraqi Turkmen, Mandaeans, Assyrians and Yezidis.
Mandaeans in the United States refers to people born in or residing in the United States of Mandaean origin, or those considered to be ethnic Mandaeans.
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