A Handbook for Asylum seekers in sweden - Tema asyl & integration

people speak and understand English in Sweden. It is estimated that about 11%of the population were born outside of the country.As a new-comer, to learn Swedish avoid, using English as much as possible inyour social interactions with the Swedes!ReligionSweden is one of the most secular countries of the world and most people inSweden consider religion and faith to be private matters. Few people in Swedenare religious – even fewer are actively so. However, although they are not religious,many Swedes choose to have their children baptised, have their communionand get married and buried in the church. Until January 2000, every citizen inSweden was registered as a member of the Swedish Lutheran Church (SvenskaKyrkan) at birth. Today the church and state are separated and this is not the caseanymore. In addition to the church of Sweden which has the most members inthe country, other known world religions such as Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism,and a number of other Christian Churches are found in Sweden.DemocracySweden is a constitutional monarchy in which the King is head of state, with royalpower limited to official and ceremonial functions.Sweden became a fully-fledged democracy in 1921 when the full and equalright of women and men to vote was introduced. The rights and freedoms enjoyedby Sweden’s citizens are set out in the written Constitution. The Constitutionstates that all public power proceeds from the people and that the Parliament– Riksdagen – is the foremost representative of the people. As such, the Riksdagwith its 349 elected members is a crucial component of Swedish democracy. TheGovernment, headed by a prime minister, rules the country and it is responsibleto the Parliament.Sweden is divided into 21 counties (län) and 289 municipalities (kommun).Each county is headed by a governor, who is appointed by the central government.Each county has a popularly elected council with the power of taxation,and each council has particular responsibility for education, public transportation,health, and medical care. Elected municipal councils are headed by executivecommittees.Parliamentary, county and municipal elections are held every four years. Inthese elections the Swedish electorate elect their representative at national, regionaland municipal levels to govern and administer the country in the comingfour years.There is also the European level to which elections are held every five years36 | Asylum RECEPTION in FOCUS