Moroccans in Sweden

Moroccan Swedes

Total population
64,000
Languages
Arabic, Berber, Swedish, French
Religion
predominantly Muslim

Migration of Moroccans to Sweden is a part of Moroccan migration to Western Europe which dates back to the beginning of the 1960s when the economic and social situation in Morocco was highly complicated. Regional income inequalities were substantial, distribution of personal incomes was extremely imbalanced and unemployment rates in countryside were high. Today, the Moroccan community constitutes the 10th^{[citation needed]} largest ethnic minority group in Sweden, which is a highly multiethnic population where residents from foreign backgrounds compose 21%^{[citation needed]} of the population.

Migrating to Sweden

Sweden has not been a key destination for Moroccans migrants, compared to others like France and the Netherlands where immigrants from Morocco represent the biggest group within overall immigrant population. There was about half a decade of immigration of Moroccan workers to Sweden, between 1966 and 1973. Since then there have been a small but constant inflow of family members, mainly spouses and also aged parents, on average an annual arrival of 1,100 persons (Theolin 2000). By 2003, this number reached to 63.000. Of this group 54% were born in Morocco and 46% were born in Sweden, members of the second generation (Westin 2003).

Employment and success

In the early years of migration, most Moroccan immigrants to Sweden originated from rural parts of Morocco, and were employed in service industries such as construction work, cleaning, serving, and driving. There have been indications of change in socioeconomic conditions for Moroccans in Sweden in last decade. According to research conducted by the Moroccan Youth Federation in Sweden, by 2000, the total number of Moroccan employers reached 3095, which constitutes 0.5% of all small-medium companies in Sweden. The current number of persons employed in Moroccan businesses in Sweden is 49.500, while half of these businesses are in the hotel and restaurant sectors. (Ikiz 2005). Furthermore, there is a relative increase in university attendance among the second-generation members of Moroccan community, although Moroccans still rank quite low among immigrant groups in Sweden with regard to educational attainment.

Media and communication

The role of the media and communication, either as “a bridge to homeland” or more recently as a link between Morocco and Sweden, has been increasingly vital in the diasporas experiences. Five major types of diasporic media cultures which have been developed among residents with Moroccan background in Sweden, have run through following channels, in the chronological fashion:

Refugees

As of 2007, there were 75 Moroccans applying for asylum in Sweden.

==AS