The Swedish government and its hard-right ally in parliament want to introduce mandatory state-run asylum centres to improve the monitoring of asylum seekers in the country.
The results of a Swedish government-commissioned study presented on Tuesday suggested that asylum seekers should be restricted to a certain area and have their presence checked or risk losing their benefits.
“As a general rule, you may only stay in the county where the asylum accommodation is registered. This is a relatively large area, and you must be able to use contacts, social services and leisure benefits,” Ingela Fridström, who was tasked with drafting the report, has said.
The Swedish government will therefore propose some kind of mandatory asylum centre under the supervision of the Swedish Migration Agency, where asylum seekers will be required to live throughout the asylum process.
“According to the current system, the Swedish Migration Agency has to propose accommodation to newly arrived asylum seekers, but they can also choose to live somewhere else if they want, for example with relatives,” Bernd Parusel, senior researcher at the Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies, told Euractiv.
Asylum seekers who do not live in designated accommodation could lose their right to a daily allowance of SEK 71 (€6.26).
According to him, the proposed system is legal under EU law and the new Migration and Asylum Pact adopted earlier this year, and is a clear sign that Sweden wants to take a more restrictive and less generous approach to migration.
“Member states cannot detain asylum seekers but they can restrict their moblity,” he added.
Such provisions exist in Germany, France and Austria.
Greater control
According to Migration Minister Johan Forssell, 65% of asylum seekers choose to live in their own accommodation, increasing the risks of both marginalisation and overcrowding in certain municipalities.
“The Swedish government is trying to reduce what they see as an unbalanced repartition of migrants on the national territory that then leads to marginalisation or segregation of the asylum seekers”, Parusel said.
According to him, it is a big step that shows the Swedish government’s willingness to take back control of integration, but also to avoid losing track of rejected applicants.
“It will be easier to get hold of people if their asylum application is rejected,” Forsell added during the press conference.
In Sweden, 12,600 people are currently registered in the Migration Agency’s reception system.
The Swedish government will now draft legislation that could be put to a vote in parliament in 2025 or 2026, Forssell added.
[Edited by Daniel Eck]
Source: euractiv.com
