The couple married in 2019.
But for Pakistani woman Sumbal Usman, 31, the attraction of moving to live in Skellefteå was a more fundamental human right - the right of a woman to walk around her neighbourhood without being asked why a male relation was not accompanying her.
– I never felt comfortable going out in Lahore, my home town in Pakistan, she says, sitting in the smart Skellefteå apartment she now shares with her husband, Usman Naeem, 32.
– People don’t like to see women out on their own in Pakistan, Sumbal adds.
– If I went to the shops on my own, I’d be asked "why you are alone here? Where’s your husband? Where’s your father, where are your brothers?"
It didn’t make it any easier that her husband, Usman, was away working for three or four months at a time. Usman’s work as an engineer took him all over Europe and north Africa, and Sumbal grew increasingly despondent at her lack of opportunities in Pakistan.
– Every time Usman left for another stint abroad, I felt sad. Not just because I missed him, but because I would feel very trapped again with my home life, she says.
But Usman’s business trips in Europe had opened up new vistas for him, and he started to formulate a plan to help his wife, whom he married in 2019. Maybe they could move together to a European country.
Home is a smart apartment in Skellefteå.
– I had a lot of experience working in different cultures and began to see that many of them were more open-minded than what I was used to. And, especially in Europe, I saw that gender discrimination was quite rare, or at least that’s how it seemed to me.
But then Usman would return to his wife in Lahore and see how upset she was by her lack of opportunities.
– I realized that my wife was not getting any opportunities in Pakistan. She’s brilliant, she’s talented, and she tried to start her own business but it was so hard. We tried to start businesses together, but that didn’t work either. She tried to get a job. But there’s not so many opportunities for females to work independently. It’s frowned upon. In our culture if the husband is earning, the view is that the wife should stay at home.
Usman says he's never seen Sumbal more confident.
But then, in 2021, Usman got a job offer from Skellefteå battery-maker, Northvolt.
– It was like a dream come true, says Usman.
Sumbal, a bubbly, positive woman takes up the story.
– Usman told me about the different lives he’d seen in other countries, especially in Europe. When he told me we were moving to Sweden, It felt like I was being given a chance to live again. He told me that gender equality was important in Sweden. And he told me that we will get all the opportunities we are looking for. It was so exciting. We were not going to have to separate for three or four months at a time. I will have a life outside the home. We were going to Sweden, and it didn’t matter if it’s a country with -23c to -24c!
Sumbal’s first impression of Skellefteå was very positive. She was impressed by how clean the city was, and she also loved the region’s huge blue skies. And she was very impressed by the locals’ friendliness. Northern Swedes sometimes have a bad reputation for being unfriendly and standoffish, but not according to Sumbal and Usman.
– It was so easy to talk to people. They were so friendly. And most of them spoke to us in English so that we could understand each other, says Usman.
Sumbal and Usman have known each other since they were both 14.
Sumbal started to learn Swedish and also revelled in wandering alone around Skellefteå. She filmed her routes to SFI on Campus, so that she’d not get lost, travelled on Skellefteå buses and generally really enjoyed her freedom, with no judgemental men around to express their displeasure at the sight of a lone woman out enjoying a walk.
– This is a great country for me, says Sumbal.
– If I want to enjoy nature in the early morning, even if it’s -10c, I can just wander around taking photographs. And I can go anytime I like to sit by the river, just to feel the fresh air. I’m really enjoying having an independent life.
Sumbal is now almost fluent in Swedish and, once she completes her final SFI course, she’ll start work in a preschool.
The couple are planning a life in Skellefteå. They want to raise children in a country where their kids can choose their professions and plan their lives free from cultural restrictions.
Usman is happy in Sweden, too.
– Over the last 10 years or so, I have traveled to many countries. But Sweden is the first place where I feel like this is my home, this is my country.
And, of course, he’s delighted that Sumbal is finally able to have an independent life.
– I’ve known Sumbal since we were both 14. I’ve never seen her happier or more confident, he says.
– I love that she can have a life on her own terms. Unlike when we lived in Lahore, I never worry about her going out for a walk. In Skellefteå, she walks on her own to her SFI classes or goes out on her own to take photos of the sky, Usman says.
And then he adds:
– She’s free.