大象传媒

Writer, academic and diplomat David Dabydeen recalls five very different stories of mass migration from around the world.

They move in times of crisis, fleeing war or instability, poverty or corruption. And then they face a new challenge - how to find a way to survive and prosper in new, often unfamiliar environments.

David considers to what extent were these migrants were affected by the circumstances of their departure - by the violence they may have witnessed or the economic and political stresses they endured - and who bore the responsibility for their integration. Many different approaches have been tried, from large-scale mobilisation of official institutions to an almost total disengagement by the state. And the results are equally variable, suggesting that there are no easy solutions to this increasingly important dilemma. What does emerge clearly is that race, education and language all play a vital role.

Sweden is the location for this third programme, charting the progress of Bosnians who fled war at home in 1992-93. Almost 100,000 - many of them Muslims - were resettled in Sweden, a country proud of its relatively recent tradition of offering sanctuary to refugees. The Swedish government aimed to assimilate its new arrivals with minimal delay, focusing its energies on language lessons. The result was one of the most successful examples of rapid integration, in which the potentially divisive issue of religion was calmly negotiated.

Yet now - Sweden, faced with a new wave of mass migration, is moving away from its inclusive philosophy.

Producer: Hugh Costello
A Whistledown production for 大象传媒 Radio 4.