Refugees’ integration policy and its determinants: Comparison between

Germany and Sweden (2015-2021)

Name: Nourhan Mohamed El-Menyawy

Degree: Masters

Program: Euro- Medittereain

Phone: 01098530038

Mail: nourhan_elmeneawy2020@feps.edu.eg
1-Introduction:
Refugee crisis occurred in Europe in 2015, Europe had received more than 1 million asylums
and 400,000 refugees which were considered to be more than the normal rate since the eruption
of the second world war.1 There was a tremendous pressure forced on the European channels by
the asylums, refugees and illegal migrants after the formation of Arab Spring which in turn
witnessed a great impact on the European Union.
The First channel was known by the Eastern Mediterranean Route that was occupied by the
asylum seekers originated from Syria, Iraq, Pakistan and Africa. Second channel was known by
the Central Mediterranean Route that was rooted from Libya, Syria, Eritrea and Sudan.; On
the other hand, the third channel was named by the Western Mediterranean Route, originated
from both countries ‘Syria and Africa’.
That wasn’t considered to be the first time to witness in Europe a large migration movement. The
Post Second World War also witnessed an inflow of migrants from Germany and Poland then a
number of migration waves started in Spain due to poverty, in the year 2000, however its impact
was viewed to be partially limited; In addition to this, A humanitarian migration took place after
Kosovo Conflict, Boasian Conflict and Yugoslav wars, however, Europe dealt with such
situations through an impactful manner; although, the consequences were not an inflow of
refugees in 2015. A number of studies observed that Europe owns no capability to embrace
excessive movements due to the huge rates of unemployment, terrorism attacks, rise of far right,
poor economic conditions, variant cultures and the instability of the refugees’ countries which
consequently may persist unsolved in the future.
In the refugee crisis of 2015; Sweden, Austria, and Germany were viewed as the destination
countries that receive refugees and offer programs to their integration2
Germany witnessed waves of refugees since 1950 from South Europe and Turkey for labor
shortage but it was considered to be a temporary migration then it witnessed inflows after the
cold war by the Eastern Europe abided widely by a great number of German restrictions
implemented on the process until the refugee crisis in 2015. The inflow was estimated to be
1,139,000 refugees that was issued as a highest number. The focus was shifted to integration
programs through Merkel Open Door policy3
Sweden had consecutive waves of refugees since 1948 by the Jews of Norway and Denmark
rooted in the German occupation then it witnessed inflow of minorities in 1972 by the third
countries who were exposed thoroughly to threat as the Christians and Kurds then by the asylum

1
OECD, Is this humanitarian migration crisis different? – Migration policy debates- N.7 September 2015, P-1-4 pp
2
ibid
3
Teresa Talo, Public Attitude to immigration in Germany after refugee crisis, Migration policy center, Issue
September 2017, P:2

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seekers from Eastern Europe like Hungry and Poland during Cold War till refugee crisis in 2015
with 250,000 refugees and 38,000 Asylums which was the highest number. 4
My study focuses on Germany and Sweden, according to European Parliament Policy of
Integration of Refugee’s Report5, they were successful destination countries who received
refugees since 2015 and provided models for integration at the start.
The importance of this study lies in the confusion on the literature around Germany and Sweden
as which country presents the most successful model in applying policies of integration towards
Refugees especially after huge shift that occurred in Germany view towards refugees’
integration.
The objective of this thesis, to understand:
- Why there is debate in the studies between Germany and Sweden integration policies?
-What are the determinants between Germany and Sweden to understand which country offers a
comprehensive integration model?
2-Research problem:
Germany and Sweden have been the biggest destination countries for Asylum seekers and
Refugees since 2015; they were examples of successful models for their treatment of refugees at
the start of the crisis.6
According to Migration Data Index 7that assess the integration policies of each country and how
far they have succeeded. Germany was lowly ranked 58/100 means its halfway favorable for
refugee to be in this country as they didn’t improve their policies which leads to lower ranks in
education, political participation, Labor Mobility, health, and other indicators. While Sweden
was highly ranked 86/100 which means they are very favorable for refugees and it has become
one of the top countries in their integration policies as they present a comprehensive model in
different fields for refugees 8 This difference presents a puzzle despite they are similar countries.
But why are these countries similar?
1-Both countries are known for their highest acceptance rates of refugee status that are granted to
asylum seekers following EU Standards in table 1.9

4
Amy Leach, Public Narratives towards refugees in Sweden, p:2-5 pp
5
Regina Konle, Integration of Refugees in Germany, Austria and Sweden, Policy department: Economic and Social
Policy- European Parliament, P.8-10 pp
6
Ibid
7
Migrant Integration Policy Index, Germany, access date: 19/7/2021 https://www.mipex.eu/germany
8
Migrant Integration Policy Index, Sweden, access date: 19/7/2021. https://www.mipex.eu/Sweden
9
Ibid

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2-Germany is the first while Sweden is 10th in Gross Domestic product of European countries10
3-Sweden is 6th and Germany is 10th on Government effectiveness in Sweden is 2nd and Germany
is 9th on control of corruption 11.
These countries are similar in many indicators in terms of destination countries, huge number of
refugees, economy, governance, and parliamentary system considering to be the best European
countries according to global competitive index12 but both of them are different according to the
data in their integration programs with refugees.
The approach will be based on Carmon Naomi Models of Integration and Citizenship to
understand the view of Citizenship is based on ethnicity or multi-culture which will affect the
integration of the refugee from perspective of assimilation or exclusion in context of Germany
and Sweden.13
3-Research Question:
-According to Migration Data Index and Integration Model, Why Sweden has succeeded in
achieving integration for Refugees while Germany failed and shifted its policies, despite they are
similar in many indicators?
Time framework: Refugee crisis of 2015 till 2020:
1- According to data, Europe couldn’t deal effectively with Refugee Crisis of 2015.
2- Germany and Sweden proved to be good examples of integration programs in the
beginning of crisis then there was a shift in the view especially Germany.
Sub questions:
-What are the Determinants that affected both countries in their integration model for refugees?
-What are programs of each country in the treatment of refugees and the consequences?
-What are the aspects of success and pitfalls of each country in treating refugees?
4-Methodology:
The research will be a qualitative study based on comparison between two cases by using the
most similar system research design by identifying the key features that are different among
similar countries.

10
Statista, Gross Domestic product of European countries in 2020, Access date: 19/7/2021
https://www.statista.com/statistics/685925/gdp-of-european-countries/
11
Global Economy, Governance and business, Access date: 19/7/2021
https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/rankings/wb_government_effectiveness/
12
Caroline Galvan, the top 10 competitive economics in Europe, World economic forum,
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/09/the-top-10-most-competitive-economies-in-europe/
13
Carmon Naomi, Immigration and integration in post-industry societies, Martin press, 1996

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 Multiple sources of data will be used as quantitative data: Index, statistics, and analysis of the
data while qualitative data will be official European Union documents, UN Refugee Agency
Documents, existing literature, and academic articles.
My approach will focus on:
-Integration models (Multi-Cultural, Melting Pot, and Exclusion theories to understand how the
concept of citizenship and integration of the other are understood in these societies)
-Liberal intergovernmentalism focus on the role of states constrained by internal and external
factors and how they consider this to maximize their interest.
-Democracy and welfare system theories as Germany is Christian democratic system while
Sweden is based on a social democratic system which will make a difference on the values they
believe.
5-Sources:
-The organization of Asylum policy in Germany, European Migration Network of European
Commission
-Teresa Talo, Public Opinion to Immigration in Germany after refugee crisis- Migration Policy
Center, Issue September 2017.
- Sweden Data of Refugees, UN Refugee Agency, February 2021
-Bastian Vollmer, Discourse of Refugees in Germany- Journal of Refugee Studies, February
2017.
-Petra Bendel, Germany Land of Refugees, Henrich Boll Stifting, November 2018
- Regina Konle, Integration of Refugees in Sweden, Austria and Germany- European Parliament,
2018
- Claire A. Archer, The Social Rights of Asylum seekers in comparative perspective: Sweden, UK
and Germany- Master thesis, University of North Carolina, 2015.
-Anna Maria, how to integrate Refugees into Germany- Master Thesis, Uppsala University,
2016.
-Carmen Winkel, German Refugee Crisis: Politics of Memory-Journal of Arts and Humanities,
volume 08 issue 07, 2019
-Jan Dobbernack, Immigration and Citizenship of Germany- Global Center for Pluralism
University of Lincoln, April 2017
-Alessandro Solo, 2015 Refugee Crisis in Germany- German Institute for Economic Research,
No 966, 2018

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-Charles Westin, The Effectiveness of integration policies in Sweden- International Labor office
-Badruddin Brljavac, Refugee Crisis in Sweden and Slovakia- Institute of European Studies,
Vol.3 2017
-Elena Dingo, Social integration and Migration in Sweden- Joint Center for Research on
immigration, No. 52, 2015
-Anniken Haugland, After Refugee crisis of 2015: Public Discourse in Sweden and Norway-
Comparative Migration Studies, 2020
-OECD, Swedish migrant integration policies- International migration Division, 2015.
- Laureta Rogova, Immigrant’s integration in Sweden -Master’s Thesis, Lund University, 2015.

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