Sweden

Swedish Association on Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR) - Launched in February 2015, this fasttrack initiative by the Swedish government is targeted at the quick labour market inclusion of newly arrived immigrants with residency permits and a prior work experience or education connected to a sector in the country facing a labour shortage. The targeted immigrants are offered an initial Swedish language training followed by a profession specific-Swedish language training and eventually an internship in the particular professions or as guidance counsellors and language tutors.

In the framework of the EUROMED Migration V project, trainings to sensitise journalists and media professionals about the benefits of promoting a balanced narrative on migration are organised. Public Communicatorsí Workshops are developed to highlight the central role of public communicators in informing the public debate on migration, and in shaping people's perceptions of migration.

Making migration and mobility positive forces for development
1. Bring together representatives of diaspora communities and governments of countries of origin and destination for round-table debates on sharing best practices and on recognising the role and needs of diaspora communities in development and investment in countries of origin as well as in integration in the host societies.

In Sweden, the law was changed in 2012 so that access to health care is now guaranteed and free for all children under 18, and for all adults in case of emergency, without any requirement to provide documents. Strong rules on confidentiality apply to citizens and non-citizens, both for access to health care and education, creating a robust firewall in the sphere of health, hence patient confidentiality includes undocumented migrants. 

The Government of Sweden wants newly arrived immigrants in Sweden to quickly find a workplace that is relevant to the individual’s education and experience. At the same time, there is a shortage of labour in many industries; these are now being helped with the provision of skills through the creation of fast tracks by the Swedish Public Employment Service and various industries, to make it easier for newly arrived immigrants to establish themselves in the labour market.

Sweden through the Swedish Consumer Agency, is missioned to provide a web-based information service for remittances. The service aims at creating transparency about different modes of remittances and the costs of these, thus increasing competition so that transfer costs can be reduced. Since 2018 additional resources have been added to the Consumer Agency to continue to provide and develop the service. The costs of sending remittances from Sweden have in some cases been relatively high.

Jointly implemented with the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the project involves the development of a policy-benchmarking framework to assess the extent to which national migration policies facilitate orderly, safe and well managed migration, as laid out in SDG Target 10.7.

The IGC is an informal, non-decision making forum for intergovernmental information exchange and policy debate on issues of relevance to the management of international migratory flows.

The IGC brings together 16 Participating States, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Organization for Migration and the European Commission. The Participating States are Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States of America.

The government of Sweden has adopted a "National Plan to Combat Racism, Similar forms of hostility and Hate Crime".  The plan identifies a number of strategic areas, including education and research, improved coordination and monitoring, greater support for and more in-depth dialogue with civil society, strengthening preventive measures online, and a more active legal system.  

The Swedish Prime Minister together with ILO, OECD as well as other heads of the State governments including the Bangladeshi Prime Minister launched the  "The Global Deal Initiative for Decent Work and Inclusive Growth" in New York for protection and promotion of migrant workers’ rights. This initiative aims at focusing on social dialogue and addressing the challenges of the emerging global labour market. One important goal is also creating more decent and inclusive jobs.