Sweden ratified the UN convention of refugees in 1954; the right of asylum was fully implemented in the new Foreigner Act of 1954 (SFS 1954:193). The new act enabled permanent residency (bosättningstillstånd) and the equal status of foreigners on the labour market was emphasised in the preparatory work (see government bill, Prop. 1953:41). For a long time, refugee immigration was limited and dominated by resettled refugees. From the 1970s the number of asylum seekers began to increase, but more significantly so from the second half of the 1980s and the first orderly refugee reception system was established in the early 1980s. From the year 2000 and forward, Sweden has given international protection to around 20,000 to 30,000 refugees every year. 2013 and onward, as the conflict in Syria continued and persons from other neighbouring countries fled towards Europe, the number of asylum applications in Sweden increased dramatically. In 2015, a total of around 163,000 persons applied for asylum in Sweden, whereof around 51 000 came from Syria. This has affected the situation dramatically, and many now question the ability to integrate those who arrive. As a result, in November 2015, the government announced a change in the asylum and family migration regulations, and a new three-year temporary law came into force into in 2016. After the new law, the number of asylum application dropped to 29,000 in 2016, and continues to remain at approximately the same level up until today

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5082853