Protection Policies in Sweden

RESPOND Policy Brief [2020/6]

Authors: Mudar Shakra - Uppsala University | Justyna Szalanska - Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul | Önver A. Cetrez - Uppsala University

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This policy brief aims to provide a brief overview of the current Swedish protection regime and the main legislative changes in asylum and migration policies between 2011 and 2019, which was investigated in depth in Work package 3 of the RESPOND project. Sweden has been internationally recognised as one of the main supporters of the international protection regime and a leading country in providing sanctuary to persons in need of protection. Sweden has received a large number of asylum seekers since 2012 in comparison to other EU member states. During the fall of 2015 in its referral response, the Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket) described the extraordinary situation as “the biggest challenge that Sweden and the Migration Agency had ever experienced in the contemporary history” (Swedish Migration Agency, 2016). During these circumstances, the Migration Agency and other society institutions were exposed to enormous strains. The respond on the European level to deal with this unusual situation was not effective as the Migration Agency described it. Only in 2015, Sweden received more than 162 thousand asylum seekers. As a result, Swedish asylum and protection policies and eventually the Swedish migration regulations moved dramatically from the most generous to the so-called minimum EU level. The findings of this policy brief illustrate different practices with potential negative consequences in the protection regime in Sweden. Therefore, brief recommendations are provided at the end of this policy brief.

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