Two Waves of Refugee Reception: Bosnian and Herzegovinians in the 1990s, Syrians in the 2010s, and the Swedish Institutional Context

Abstract

In this chapter, we familiarize the reader with the background associated with the two cases: refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in the 1990s, and those from Syria in the 2010s. The chapter provides overviews of the social and political contexts of these two countries at the time of the respective refugee crises. The emphasis will also be on relevant institutions and structural conditions in Sweden at the time. The chapter also introduces some of the key research in the field having to do with the respective cases, detailing the more thoroughly developed coverage of the BiH case and how this has evolved. By contrast, the research having to do with Syrian refugees to Sweden is quite sparse, given the real-time nature of events.