When is a Swede a Swede ?

A discussion topic often comes up amongst immigrants over at what point does an immigrant really become part of their new country. How long is long enough ? Do you have to be born in Sweden to be Swedish ? Are second generation immigrants considered to be Swedes ?

It would be way too simple to quote government immigration websites or, God forbid, Wikipedia. I don't think it is so simple as to say that you are always a person of your birth country either. It's more complicated than that. I hold citizenship in Sweden and in New Zealand (my country of birth). If I were to choose to give up my New Zealand citizenship, which I have the right to do, would I still be a New Zealander ? Could I really consider myself to be a person of a country where I do not have the absolute right to live in ? And if I am no longer a New Zealander, then who am I ? Am I a global orphan ? This is where it starts to get a bit grey.

For me, nationality is a personal issue, determined by each individual. I live in Sweden, my life is in Sweden, I am a Swedish citizen, I intend to spent the rest of my life in Sweden. In my eyes, I am Swedish. Ok, there's the small matter about being bollocks with Swedish, but that's just stuff. I think I tick all of the boxes I consider to be important when assigning oneself to a particular country. At my workplace in Luleå I am often meeting new people. Obviously the moment I open my mouth to speak, they realise that I wasn't born up here. That's never going to disappear, I'm always going to sound weird. As a rule, they generally don't mention it directly. Swedes are polite like that. But they are as curious as hell. They have to wait until there is a lull in the discussion or they wait until it is just me and them. Then they will almost always ask me where I am from. My answer to them is standard: "I'm from Boden ! (the town in Sweden where we live today)". I love the expression on their faces that follows. It throws them completely. They don't know how to ask what they really want to know and now are too embarrassed to because I have already given an answer to their question. I do put them out of their misery, mind, and, after a suitable awkward pause, I explain with a smile that I am originally from New Zealand. Then we're all friends again. There is a little method behind the madness. If I had said directly, as I often did in my earlier days, they would have treated me differently and most likely would have started speaking English. Despite me speaking Swedish to them. By me making the statement that I am "from" Sweden, they treat me in the exact same fashion as they treat the rest of my Swedish born colleagues in the room. The whole nationality thing simply disappears. And that is what we all immigrants strive for. We all want to be seen for who we are as people today, not for where we have originally come from. We don't want more than Swedish born people, we certainly don't want less, what we want is to be judged for who we are.