Winter sports as Swedish model of integration of refugees
One of Sweden’s most popular winter sports helped the Somalis to integrate into the peaceful community
This stated in the press release “Sweden Immigration – This is Integration on Ice”, prepared by the Swedish Institute.
The integration project “African refugee team” started in the small Swedish town of Borlänge, home to more than 3,000 Somalis now. Learning to play bandy, one of Sweden’s most popular winter sports, helped the Somalis connect with their new hometown.
“There are no terms like Somali-American, or Somali-Canadian. Somali-Swede unlike in Canada or the US …I’ve never heard that!” says Abdirahman Barhadle, a 19 year old team member and a second generation Somali.
The team seems to have had quite an effect on the youth in the community.
“Some players got into high school because of this, and some got jobs,” says Hassan Farah, age 19, arrived in 2009 from Somalia. “Enabling things like that was the goal, and now we’ve reached it”.
Given that Sweden is now home to more than 200,000 refugees and asylum seekers, with rising numbers creating tensions across the country, it’s good news that the idea of “immigrants on ice” seems to be spreading. The Afghan and Syrian communities in Sweden are about to start national teams of their own.
