I’m just going to say it. Not all immigrants are the same. I know that reading that might make you feel uncomfortable, particularly if you’re white and British and therefore more vulnerable to cancel culture and snowflakery. But it’s true. Some immigrants are simply better than others. And by better, I mean that immigrants from certain nations and cultures are more likely than others to integrate and make a positive contribution to their new country.

Sweden is a useful terrarium of immigration; the good, the bad and the ugly

Sweden is a useful terrarium of immigration; the good, the bad and the ugly

Sweden is a useful terrarium of immigration; the good, the bad and the ugly. I was born in Sweden to Iranian parents in the early 1990s. At the time, Sweden had a population of just over eight million, and the country was rapidly becoming a destination for migrants. Fast forward to today, and it has a population of over ten million, of which about a fifth were born abroad. When including those born in Sweden with two foreign-born parents, the number of those with a ‘foreign background’ rises to almost a third of the population.

Today, Sweden is home to people from all over the world: Iranians fleeing the Islamic occupation; Iraqis who fled the Gulf war; Yugoslavs who escaped civil war and genocide; Kurds (from Turkey, Iraq and Syria) and Assyrians (Aramaic- and Syriac-speaking Christians from Iraq and Syria) fleeing persecution, as well as Turks. There are Chileans who fled Pinochet; East Africans (Somalis, Ethiopian and Eritreans) fleeing, well, everything. And Poles looking for greater opportunities.

All of these nationalities and cultures in one tiny, historically homogenous society, make for a wonderfully interesting study of migration and........

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