Mandaeans in Sweden

Mandaeans in Sweden
Total population
8,000
Languages
Swedish, Arabic, Persian, Mandaic
Related ethnic groups
Arabs in Sweden, Assyrians in Sweden, Swedish Iraqis, Kurds in Sweden, Swedish Iranians

Sweden is home to one of the largest communities of the Mandaean ethnoreligious group, numbering around 8,000 people.[1] By comparison, there are now only about 5,000 Mandaeans in Iraq, the homeland of the Mandaean people.[2] Several thousand of the Swedish Mandaeans were granted asylum status as refugees from persecution in Iraq and Syria.[3]

The first Mandaeans came to Sweden in the 1970's, including the al-Khafaji family who owned a goldsmiths business on Kungsgatan in Stockholm. The first Mandaean religious worship took place in 1997 when a tarmida (Mandaean priest) from the Netherlands was visiting. Following the Iraq War there was a increased influx of refugees, and as of 2017 there were a total of eight tarmidas living in Sweden under the leadership of Salwan Alkhamas, who holds the position of genzibra or bishop. The first Mandaean place of worship, or mandi, was consecrated in Sandviken in 2003. Most Mandaeans in Sweden live in Scania in the south of the country, and in the Stockholm region, with a growing population of about 1,500 people in Södertälje.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Från Jordanfloden till fristaden i Vällingby." Stockholmsfria.se. (Swedish) Retrieved 2018-07-20
  2. ↑ "An exodus to Sweden from Iraq for ethnic Mandaeans." The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-07-22.
  3. ↑ "Gnostic sunset: Strife in Syria and Iraq driving out Mandaeans, the last surviving followers of John the Baptist". National Post. Retrieved 2014-10-16.
  4. ↑ "Religiösa minoriteter från Mellanöstern" pp114-134. The Swedish Agency for Support to Faith Communities. (Swedish) Retrieved 2018-07-22
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