Reception of refugees in Swedish municipalities: evidences from comparative case studies

Lidén, Gustav; Nyhlén, Jon

doi:10.1080/21632324.2014.894178

Cited by 29 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Consequently, the research has been lacking a political dimension where the importance of political processes and the actions of the political actors involved have been in focus. Even if scholars have, for a long time, mainly indicated structural factors while more or less ignoring political ones (Carvalho ; Giugni & Passy ; Hix & Noury ), recent studies from a Scandinavian context show that actor‐specific factors, such as local political leadership, are also important for understanding the formulation of local migration policy (Steen ; Lidén & Nyhlén ).…”

Section: Theoretical Background Of Anti‐immigration Partiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do Anti‐immigration Parties Matter? The Case of the Sweden Democrats and Local Refugee Policy

2014

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With the increased electoral success of anti‐immigration parties, questions regarding what impact the parties actually have naturally follow. Previous research has rarely explored this question. Furthermore, within this body of research, one is given different answers. While some argue that anti‐immigration parties have made an impact on public policy, others find no such evidence. This article shows that some of this inconsistency is a consequence of the methodological strategies that have been employed. Previous studies are either single case studies or comparisons of a small number of countries. Consequently, different parties in different institutional settings are compared, making it difficult to estimate the actual impact of the party of interest. In order to circumvent such methodological problems, this article explores the question of anti‐immigration party impact on a local level and asks if the Sweden Democrats (SD) have managed to influence decisions on refugee reception in Swedish municipalities. The analysis shows mixed results. First, while unable to find an independent effect of the size of the representation of the SD, it appears that the party's impact is conditioned by them holding the balance of power. Second, the SD's impact is not dependent upon whether there is right‐wing or left‐wing rule, although local migration policy is stricter when the main right‐wing party has strong support.

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Section: Theoretical Background Of Anti‐immigration Partiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do Anti‐immigration Parties Matter? The Case of the Sweden Democrats and Local Refugee Policy

2014

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“…11 In the south region of Skåne and the entry point for ferries crossing from Germany. 12 For more on the reception, during 2015, of asylum seekers by municipalities see Lidén and Nyhlén (2015).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lesson for the future or threat to sovereignty?

Skodo¹

2020

Refugees and the Violence of Welfare Bureaucracies in Northern Europe

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Following the entry of 162,877 asylum seekers in 2015, Sweden introduced border controls in November of that year. These were followed by new laws in 2015-2016 that curtailed the possibility of being granted permanent residence, family reunification, and the social rights of asylum seekers. Such measures were necessary, according to the Swedish government, because the large number of entries triggered a refugee crisis. These were far-reaching changes in a country that has long prided itself on welcoming asylum seekers. But, far from threatening Swedish state sovereignty, as the Swedish national government and mainstream media claimed, I show that this perceived crisis has both justified, asserted, and extended it by recourse to national and international law on the one hand, and an associative chain link between asylum seekers, illegal immigration, terrorism, and crisis, on the other. At the same time, I reveal how the perceived crisis has exposed rifts between different levels of Swedish governance, where the municipalities, in particular, have opposed the national government's portrayal of 2015 as a fundamental threat to Swedish sovereignty and domestic governance. Indeed, the municipalities sought to portray 2015 as a difficult but valuable lesson for scaling up services and capabilities to help people fleeing persecution. In this chapter, I problematize this dynamic primarily by analysing an official government report (Statens Offentliga Utredningar) on the refugee crisis. My analysis additionally rests on news articles and interviews I conducted in 2017 with a Swedish Migration Agency Executive Officer and a local civil servant in the southeast of Sweden. The report, published in 2017, is entitled 'Att ta emot människor på flykt: Sverige hösten 2015' ('Receiving Refugees: Sweden during the Fall of 2015'-hereafter 'Receiving Refugees'), and is the final product of a Swedish government commission formed in 2016. The government directed the commission to describe the sequence of events that comprise the refugee crisis on the one hand, and to map how the national government, national state agencies, counties, municipalities, and civil society organizations managed it, on the other. Gudrun Antemar,

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“…Municipalities with a long tradition of taking in refugees highlights the positive reception of refugees for humanitarian reasons and that society has a responsibility to defend people in need. However, it can be difficult for adults to find suitable jobs and opportunities for studies in small rural municipalities than in larger communities [17]. Present study, was conducted in an area where fewer inhabitants than the country average has a university degree, especially males [24]; therefore, it occurs competitions in job opportunities between the local population and the newly arrivals.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A study within the Swedish context [17] shows that policy makers and civil society in some small rural municipalities consider the refugee reception as an opportunity to balance the population structure because such communities often have an ageing population and a declining population base. However, their research also shows that policy makers and the civilian population in other municipalities with similar social structure can have the opposite perception.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Officials Reflections about Health Promoting Factors among Newly Arrivals - An Introductory Analysis

Carlerby¹,

Persson²

2017

Int J Community Fam Med

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Background: Resulting from conflicts, millions of peoples have been forced to leave their countries of origin. In Sweden, the Employment Agency is responsible for making decisions of immigrants' residence in municipalities and in co-operation with these allow the immigrants' establishment in the society. Preventive interventions among migrants and refugees, and health interventions in heterogeneous populations show that increased participation in society has positive imprints on health development. A new country includes getting acquaintance with non-familiar cultures. For example, other expectations on rules of gender, sickness, and illness. Recent years the low density populated areas in northern Sweden have received a high number of refugees in comparison with their population size. The purpose of this study was to explore how officials the Employment Agency and a selection of municipalities reflect over and define health promoting factors in their meetings with newly arrived. Methods: All officials (N 68) in one of the four northern counties were invited to recording their reflections on health promoting factors close to their meetings with newly arrived. The officials recorded how they defined health promoting factors according to the Audit method. The data collection of experiences of importance considering health promotion and social determinants was collected by five focus group interviews with twenty-three officials. Results: This study showed that the officials defined access to the health care, participation in the society, and sufficient collaboration between the authorities for not losing valuable time during the establishment period as imported factors for their clients' opportunities for health. The officials take power among males for given, while they more often reflected over lack of power among women. However, the Swedish ideal of gender as equal quite often a challenge the newly arrivals.

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Reception of refugees in Swedish municipalities: evidences from comparative case studies

Cited by 29 publications

References 36 publications

Do Anti‐immigration Parties Matter? The Case of the Sweden Democrats and Local Refugee Policy

Do Anti‐immigration Parties Matter? The Case of the Sweden Democrats and Local Refugee Policy

Lesson for the future or threat to sovereignty?

Officials Reflections about Health Promoting Factors among Newly Arrivals - An Introductory Analysis

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