'Sweden was like a paradise at first – but then reality hits'
Sweden in Focus7 Mai 2025

'Sweden was like a paradise at first – but then reality hits'

In 2013 Jamil Walli, a journalist, filmmaker and painter, moved to Sweden from Damascus as an exchange student.

Two years later, tens of thousands of his compatriots fled Syria to seek shelter in the country he has since come to call home.

As a journalist, he documented the stories of those fleeing persecution as part of a project for The Local where he interviewed asylum seekers in Arabic about their new lives in Sweden and how they were adapting.

This makes him very well placed to talk about his experience of what became known as the refugee crisis of 2015 when an unprecedented 163,000 asylum seekers made their way to Sweden.

After gaining citizenship in 2019 he went on to pursue studies in filmmaking, graduating in 2022 with a film that tackles xenophobia and what it means to be Swedish.

In this week's episode of Sweden in Focus Extra, Walli explains what brought him to Sweden, his own relationship to the country, and how attitudes to immigration and immigrants have changed in the past decade.

Become a member at https://www.thelocal.se/podcasts/podcast-offer?tpcc=padlock.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(284)

Our big poll on Sweden

Our big poll on Sweden

The Local's weekly podcast with news from Sweden. This week, James Savage, Emma Löfgren and Mandy Pipher discuss a new poll of The Local's readers on the highs and lows of living in Sweden. We also ta...

4 Jul 39min

Almedalen bonus: 'Sweden needs more ambition'

Almedalen bonus: 'Sweden needs more ambition'

Sweden's Nordic editor Richard Orange was in Visby this week at the Almedalen political festival. One of the many people he spoke to was Niels Paarup-Petersen, who is the migration, education and digi...

27 Jun 15min

Almedalen special: Is Sweden's government toast?

Almedalen special: Is Sweden's government toast?

This week host James Savage and regular panelist Richard Orange record the podcast from Almedalen, the annual politics fest in Visby on the Baltic island of Gotland. They are joined for a lively polit...

26 Jun 43min

Legal fight begins on Swedish citizenship rejections

Legal fight begins on Swedish citizenship rejections

Earlier this year the Fair Transition campaign group tried to convince Swedish decision makers to introduce transitional rules for the citizenship reforms which came into force on June 6th.Two months ...

24 Jun 32min

What kind of bad conduct could get you kicked out of Sweden?

What kind of bad conduct could get you kicked out of Sweden?

This week we talk about the Swedish culture of long summer holidays and how to make the most of them.Also: parliament has passed a law that will make it possible to revoke residence permits for “poor ...

18 Jun 28min

Sweden's teen deportations – 'I was terrified I wouldn't get a visa'

Sweden's teen deportations – 'I was terrified I wouldn't get a visa'

Sweden's teen deportations have affected young people who live in Sweden and whose parents have the right to be in Sweden, but who themselves no longer meet the requirements for a residence permit.Aft...

16 Jun 4min

Sweden's Prime Minister rocked by corruption claims

Sweden's Prime Minister rocked by corruption claims

This week we talk about a security scandal surrounding Prime minister Ulf Kristersson.And with the men's football World Cup kicking off this week, we assess Sweden's chances. We also discuss new restr...

12 Jun 42min

'Disappointing and sad': Treasured Swedish museums risk closure over rising rents

'Disappointing and sad': Treasured Swedish museums risk closure over rising rents

Two popular museums in Stockholm are at risk of closure because the government agency that owns the properties is now requiring the museums, which are also run by a government agency, to pay market re...

9 Jun 4min

Populært innen Politikk og nyheter

giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
aftenpodden-usa
fotballpodden-2
forklart
stopp-verden
popradet
rss-gukild-johaug
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
det-store-bildet
hanna-de-heldige
nokon-ma-ga
dine-penger-pengeradet
rss-ness
aftenbla-bla
rss-espen-lee-usensurert
rss-penger-polser-og-politikk
ukrainapodden
e24-podden
grasoner-den-nye-kalde-krigen