Syrians are one of Sweden's largest diasporas. As of 2019, there were over 240,000 Swedish residents of Syrian descent in a nation of over 10 million.

Axar.az reports citing foreign media in its updated legal guidelines, the Swedish Migration Board has listed military service in Syria as a risk of persecution. Therefore, the starting point in the examination is that people at risk of being enlisted should be granted refugee status in Sweden.

Sweden's decision is based on information received from, among other places, the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) and the Danish Migration Agency, and says that, in principle, everyone who is called up for military service in the Syrian Army is now at risk of being deployed in frontline battles, including those in Idlib Province in northwestern Syria.

"All conscripts now risk being forced to commit or participate in committing war crimes. Risking having to commit or participate in war crimes is a basis for being granted protection in Sweden", Migration Board acting legal director Carl Bexelius said in a statement.