Sweden: Language Courses Upon Arrival

One hundred years ago, Sweden was a country of emigration. Today it is one of immigration. As the economy began to grow in the 1950s, the country brought in labor immigrants, many coming from Greece, Italy, Turkey and the former Yugoslavia. Under the government of former prime minister Olof Palme, who led Sweden several times between 1969 and 1986, thousands of refugees arrived from Chile, South Africa and Vietnam. During the Balkans crisis of the 1990s, 60,000 fled Bosnia and Herzegovina for the northern European land. The country, known as one of Europe's most tolerant, is highly attractive to foreigners: 12 percent of Sweden's population of 9 million are immigrants. In 1997, the Swedish government adopted an integration policy that focuses on mainstreaming foreign residents -- with equal opportunities and civic responsibilities as the starting point. Like Britain, the Swedes encourage immigrants to preserve some of their cultural heritage in multicultural communities. Part of the effort to bring them into the Swedish mainstream is a €219 million annual budget for programs that include free language courses. However, Sweden's shift to become an immigrant nation hasn't gone without hitches. In recent years, foreigners in the country have suffered a disproportionately high rate of unemployment, and housing segregation has also proven problematic, according to the Swedish Institute.

Sweden is also home to the region's largest Muslim population, with an estimated 350,000 Muslims. Though the highly secular Swedish government follows a policy of "colorblind" integration that encourages "equality, freedom of choice and cooperation," this is often viewed through the lens of a Lutheran-dominated society often fails to take into account the differing needs of Muslims, a recent report by the European Commission concluded. Sweden protects its residents against religious discrimination, but it offers these rights to the individual and not groups. Still, Sweden has a very liberal policy of providing funding to private schools approved by the state, including Muslim ones. In the wake of Sept. 11, authorities recorded an increase in violent incidents against Muslims and people of Arab decent and an uptick in anti-Islam messages from the country's right-wing political parties. The most-dramatic post-9/11 incident in the country occurred in the southern Swedish city of Malmö, where arsonists set fire to an Islamic school and cultural center.