Delmi has initiated and analysed 100 interviews with people who have been asylum seekers in Sweden and either had their asylum application rejected or for other reasons decided to return to Afghanistan or Iraq. During the interviews, 60 people from Afghanistan and 40 people from Iraq, shared their migration history and what their lives look like today. Many of the interviewees lacked sufficient knowledge about the right to asylum and what criteria must be met to be granted a residence permit. Most, however, travelled through Europe with Sweden as the final destination.
I told the immigration office staff that I’d been living in Sweden for more than four years: I started speaking the [Swedish] language, found a job, could earn money, and could make friends and socialise, “isn’t this all sufficient for me to get your approval for refugee status?” I told them, “if you’d grant me refugee status today, I’d start working as of tomorrow.
Male, 37 years old, Iraq #40. Quote from the report.
Mattias Wahlstedt, head of secretariat, opened the webinar and the conversation was moderated by Ann-Louise Rönestål Ek, journalist and host of the Delmi podcast. The panellists, who represent the authorities and organizations working in the return chain, contributed to the discussion with their experiences. Two of the report's authors, Henrik Malm Lindberg and Constanza Vera-Larrucea, presented the project, the methodology and the research results.
*The webinar was held in Swedish.
More information about the webinar can be found on Delmi's seminar page and project page.
Picture by Headway from Unsplash.
