Nyanlända is made up of the word ny (new) combined with the verb anlända (arrive), giving the literal translation of “new arrivals”.

That used to be its primary usage – you could for example say en nyanländ turist (a newly-arrived tourist), or ett nyanlänt flyg (a newly-arrived flight).

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Since 2016, it’s come up more and more in discussions about Swedish migration policy, so you would be forgiven for thinking it refers to all newly-arrived immigrants.

Somewhat frustratingly, it is rarely explicitly stated in policy proposals exactly what is meant by nyanlända, but in practice it usually refers to people arriving in Sweden either as asylum seekers or as family members of asylum seekers.

More specifically, it’s used to describe those who are eligible for the Swedish Public Employment Service’s etableringsprogram or “introduction programm”, designed to aid refugees and other people in need of protection in finding work, learning Swedish and becoming financially independent.

However, the vagueness in how it’s used in policy and debate can lead to confusion both for recently-arrived immigrants who are not in Sweden as asylum seekers (and are not referred to as nyanlända) and for refugees who have already been in Sweden for a few years, who are still sometimes referred to as nyanlända.

Example sentences:

Nyanlända kan få hjälp att hitta arbete i Sverige.

Newly-arrived [asylum seekers] can get help to find a job in Sweden.

Regeringen vill se en obligatorisk “Sverigekurs” för nyanlända.

The government wants there to be a mandatory “Sweden cours” for newly-arrived refugees.