ALPHA. Demokratiskolan.se is a PROTOTYPE · Content review in progress
Demokratiskolan
The Migration card from MethodKit for Society and Politics
Card 71 of 128 · MethodKit for Society & Politics
  • AreaPeople & belonging
  • Centre of gravityCentral government
  • Points of influence2 on the journey
  • Decisive electionRiksdagsvalet
People & belonging

Migration

People moving in & out (for different reasons)

Who may come to Sweden, stay and build a life here is governed by the Aliens Act and increasingly by the EU's common rules. The area is one of the most central-government there is: the Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket) decides, the courts review and the Riksdag draws the lines. Yet the decisions are felt most locally, in classrooms, in workplaces and in residential areas.

Where does the power lie?1

  • Municipality · school & reception after a decision · approx 5 %
  • Region · care for asylum seekers · approx 5 %
  • State · aliens act & decisions · approx 65 %
  • EU · asylum system & borders · approx 25 %

Central government governs, but the EU's asylum and border rules carry ever more weight. The general election and the European Parliament election decide together.

How it works: the breakdown

The municipalityAfter the decision
The regionCare during the wait
Central governmentThe agency & the courts · centre of gravity
Who decides?
The municipal council (kommunfullmäktige), the social welfare committee and the school.
The regional council (regionfullmäktige) and the healthcare committees.
The Riksdag, the Government, the Migration Agency (Migrationsverket), the migration courts and the border police.
What do they decide?
School for asylum-seeking children, reception of new arrivals with a permit and social services' ultimate responsibility for everyone present in the municipality.
Asylum-seeking children get full care, adults care that cannot wait. Everyone is offered a health examination.
The Aliens Act: asylum, work permits and family reunification. Examination of cases, accommodation during the asylum period and return.
Where are decisions made?
In the school and in the municipality's reception unit.
At health centres and through 1177.
At the Migration Agency and in court. The law is written in the Riksdag.
Who pays?
Central government compensation covers most, the municipal tax the rest.
Central government compensates the regions for asylum seekers' care.
The central government budget: the whole asylum system and the compensation to municipalities and regions.
Fastest way in?
Municipal election The municipal election shapes the quality of reception. Volunteers are needed in associations and language cafés.
Regional election The regional election shapes how care is organised. Views through the patients' advisory committee.
General election The general election shapes the Aliens Act. Bills go out for open referral (remiss).
EUThe EU governs more and more: common asylum rules, Schengen's free movement and the control of the external borders. The European Parliament election is in this area one of the most important elections.

Read the table by column to understand one level, or by row to compare the levels. The green level is the area's centre of gravity.

How it works: follow the decision

The case An asylum case from application to decision
  1. EU

    The EU's rules decide where the application is examined

    Common EU rules point out which country is responsible for an asylum application and set minimum levels for the examination. The Schengen cooperation moves control to the union's external border.

    Point of influence

    The European Parliament election affects asylum and border policy. The European Parliament is a co-legislator.

  2. State

    The application is filed with the Migration Agency

    Asylum is sought at the Migration Agency, at the border or inside the country. During the waiting time the agency arranges accommodation and a small daily allowance for those without money of their own.

  3. State

    The investigation examines the grounds for protection

    A case officer examines the grounds for protection against the Aliens Act and country information. The applicant normally has the right to a public counsel, a lawyer that central government pays for.

  4. State

    Decision, and the right to appeal

    The Migration Agency grants a residence permit or rejects. A rejection can be appealed by the applicant to the migration court and, as a last resort, if leave to appeal is granted, to the Migration Court of Appeal.

    Point of influence

    The appeal is a right. Civil society's legal advice services often help free of charge.

  5. StateMunicipality

    Two ways out of the system

    With a permit, assignment to a municipality and establishment await. On a final rejection, the person is to leave the country, voluntarily or through the border police.

  6. Your everyday life

    The decision lands in everyday life

    A yes becomes a new classmate and colleague. A no is also felt, in schools and associations that say goodbye. The figures of migration policy are always people in someone's everyday life.

The journey looks the same in reverse: what has been built came the same way, through the same decisions. Whoever knows where the decisions are made also knows where they can be changed.

Questions to discuss

  1. Which migration stories are in your own family, if you go back a few generations?

  2. How should the right to asylum be weighed against a country's wish to steer its immigration?

  3. What distinguishes the conditions for someone who flees from those for someone who moves here to work, and is the difference reasonable?

  4. How is a person affected by waiting several years for a decision?

  5. What should the EU decide jointly in this area, and what should each country govern itself?

Glossary

Utlänningslagen
The law that governs asylum, residence permits, work permits and expulsion.
Asyl
Protection given to someone with refugee grounds or other grounds for protection under the law.
Offentligt biträde
A lawyer that central government pays to support the asylum seeker during the examination.
Migrationsdomstol
An administrative court that reviews appealed migration decisions.
Kvotflykting
A refugee selected in cooperation with the UN's refugee agency, granted a permit even before the journey to Sweden.
Schengen
The European cooperation that has removed border controls between the member states.

Go further

Footnotes

1) This is an estimate of how decision-making power over the issue is split between the municipality, the region, central government and the EU, based on how responsibility is divided in legislation. A teaching guide, not an exact measurement.