Perspective: Baghdad to Stockholm: Iraqi exodus for a better life

Stockholm, Sweden

The fatigue shows in his eyes and his jittery legs betray his nerves: Mohamed, 32, sits in a Swedish cafe six weeks after fleeing the bombs and death threats that have become a part of everyday life in Iraq, hoping for a chance to start his life again.

Mohamed, a former shopkeeper in a town south of Baghdad, paid 40,000 dollars (30,000 euros) to a smuggler to help him flee Iraq with his wife and two children, aged four and nine, travelling via Turkey to Stockholm.

"I left because of the explosions and because I was threatened, simply because I'm a Shiite ... We were warned that we would be killed if we didn't leave. My son was the victim of an attempted kidnapping outside his school," he said.

He misses his homeland, but at the same time he said he wants to "forget what's going on in Iraq ... I want to build my future here in Sweden, I want to teach my children that their future is here."

Mohamed is not alone. In November, 1,559 Iraqis requested asylum in the Scandinavian country against nearly 300 for the same month in 2005. In September there were 1,100, in May 486, and in January 313 -- a continuous rise, according to the Swedish Migration Board.

Iraqis come to Sweden because they already have family members there -- there are almost 80,000 Iraqis in the Nordic country -- and because the country is known for its generous refugee policies.

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