Sweden Pulls In Welcome Mat for Immigrants : Europe: Stagnating economy and European Union pressures alter Stockholm’s policy toward refugees, asylum-seekers.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden —  Under cover of darkness, Mowafak Alshagra smuggled himself into Sweden.

Alshagra, his wife and their two young daughters had fled Iraq together and originally headed for Morocco, the only country where they had visa contacts. The family had survived the 1991 Persian Gulf War. As a mother, Laheeb Alsarraf was not about to tempt fate again.

“I didn’t want to risk my own and my children’s future,” she said of her refusal to leave Morocco. Her husband went on to Scandinavia alone, sneaking into the country where his brothers and sisters had found a safe harbor.

Within three months, he obtained his residency permit and sent for his own family to join him in a land that is increasingly wary of welcoming “invandrare.” The word specifically refers to immigrants, but in everyday usage includes all types of refugees and asylum-seekers such as Alshagra. Most come to Sweden from the Middle East, Africa and the former Yugoslav republics.

Long renowned for its generosity as a “human refuge,” Sweden plans to reduce drastically the number of residency permits granted next year to about 9,200. Nearly 36,500 people received such permits in 1993, and about 18,640 refugees and asylum-seekers applied for entry in 1994.

More than 1 million people, including some 700,000 Bosnians, sought asylum in Western European countries last year. Germany has taken in the largest number. But worldwide, the majority of the 15.7 million international refugees get no farther than neighboring African and Middle Eastern countries.

A stagnating Swedish economy and the country’s recent membership in the European Union are affecting its old open-arms policy.

As the EU takes shape, the inner borders between its 15-member nations will dissolve, but theirshared external boundary will be strengthened. Reinforcing the separation between them and the rest of the world, a proposed joint immigration agreement eventually will control the EU frontiers.

Already, Swedish resentment of the foreigners in their midst has been growing. Newcomers are sometimes distrusted. Overt nationalism, taboo in modern Sweden, is becoming more commonplace. At its extreme, this attitude has given rise to hate groups, shouting and scrawling, “Sweden for the Swedes.”

“Once you are here, it is a trap,” said Laheeb Alsarraf, who arrived in 1992. “There is no chance to make a life. At first, everything is beautiful. You come here with ambitious intentions, but nobody gives you a chance.”

She and her husband, both engineers, say their repeated attempts to get jobs in their field have failed. “They hear your name and your accent,” Alsarraf said.

Unemployment among foreign nationals has increased to an average of 21% during the past few years, compared with 8% among Swedes.

Before entering the country, immigrants must obtain work permits, but few are granted. About 13% of the Swedish population of 8.7 million are immigrants or have immigrant parents. With the increase in refugees, intolerance toward foreigners as potential job or welfare recipients has intensified.

“Swedes have a problem with things they don’t know about. Middle Easterners and blacks have it especially tough,” said Roger Ticoulo, who came to Sweden as a child from Poland. “They look different, but it is difficult to see any difference between a second-generation Pole and a Swede.”

Such difficulty fitting in breeds anger, Ticoulo said. Sometimes, unfair treatment turns into a justification for crime and violence. Twenty percent of those suspected or convicted of crimes are foreigners, said Peter Martens, a crime-prevention researcher.

“The more serious the crime, the stronger the trend is,” Martens said. “When it comes to rape cases, nearly 40% are committed by foreign citizens.”

Foreign nationals often are forced to live in areas of Sweden that seethe with social problems, Martens said.

Alshagra and his family had survived on welfare until his wife finally found a temporary job. Since July, 1994, Sweden has provided a six-month internship to any immigrant who completes Swedish language instruction. Through it, Laheeb Alsarraf found a permanent position teaching word processing.

Alshagra started a catering business, which is about to break even. But Alsarraf will never forget her husband’s humiliation over having to accept welfare.

“A lot of Iraqis wish they hadn’t left Iraq,” she said. “It’s better to die than be humiliated.”