Ett förbättrat mottagande av asylsökande ensamkommande barn? En studie om en ny obligatorisk uppgift för kommunerna
(2014) JURM02 20141Department of Law
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Mottagandet av asylsökande ensamkommande barn har blivit en obligatorisk uppgift för kommunerna. Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka hur den nya bestämmelsen påverkar barnets rättsliga ställning. Ensamkommande barn definieras som barn under 18 år som vid ankomsten till Sverige är skilda från båda sina föräldrar eller från någon annan vuxen person som får anses ha trätt i föräldrarnas ställe, eller som efter ankomsten står utan sådan ställföreträdare. Av internationella rättsakter framgår att ensamkommande barn, bland annat, har rätt att få en företrädare samt omvårdnad och boendearrangemang i det land där de söker asyl.
En studie av tidigare lagstiftning visar att det inte fanns särskilda regler för huruvida det var staten eller... (More) - Mottagandet av asylsökande ensamkommande barn har blivit en obligatorisk uppgift för kommunerna. Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka hur den nya bestämmelsen påverkar barnets rättsliga ställning. Ensamkommande barn definieras som barn under 18 år som vid ankomsten till Sverige är skilda från båda sina föräldrar eller från någon annan vuxen person som får anses ha trätt i föräldrarnas ställe, eller som efter ankomsten står utan sådan ställföreträdare. Av internationella rättsakter framgår att ensamkommande barn, bland annat, har rätt att få en företrädare samt omvårdnad och boendearrangemang i det land där de söker asyl.
En studie av tidigare lagstiftning visar att det inte fanns särskilda regler för huruvida det var staten eller kommunen där barnet vistades som skulle ansvara för de ensamkommande barnen. År 2006 började kommuner teckna överenskommelser med Migrationsverket om mottagande. Inströmningen av ensamkommande barn ökade dock kraftigt och det fanns inte tillräckligt med platser i kommunerna. Under tiden som följde lämnades många förslag om hur systemet kunde förändras varav ett var att göra mottagandet till en obligatorisk uppgift för kommunerna. Det ifrågasattes dock om barnets behov kunde tillgodoses enligt en sådan ordning.
Sedan den första januari 2014 kan asylsökande ensamkommande barn anvisas till alla landets kommuner. Lagändringen berörde ett antal offentligrättsliga bestämmelser med anknytning till den kommunala självstyrelsen. Ett exempel på detta är att kommuner har rätt till ersättning för uppgifter de åläggs av staten. Både positiva och negativa effekter kan noteras sedan lagändringen trädde ikraft. En positiv effekt är att det finns bättre förutsättningar att klara av ytterligare kraftiga ökningar av antalet asylansökningar. En empirisk undersökning visar att barnen nu får en anvisning till en kommun efter endast ett par dagar. Mot denna bakgrund är en annan positiv effekt att det blivit en större kontinuitet i mottagandet. En ökad kontinuitet bidrar till att många andra rättigheter, genom barnets företrädare, kan förverkligas. En negativ effekt av den nya bestämmelsen är dock att ett obligatoriskt mottagande utan tillräcklig finansiering skulle kunna leda till att vissa kommuner brister i kvaliteten. En annan osäkerhet är att en kommun har vägrat att ta emot barn som anvisats kommunen och det finns därmed en risk att bristen på anvisningsplatser kvarstår.
Lagändringen har medfört positiva effekter på barnets rättsliga ställning. De negativa effekterna, eller snarare risken för dessa, bidrar dock till en osäkerhet kring genomslagskraften för de positiva effekterna. På grund av denna osäkerhet måste lagstiftningen följas upp vidare så att arbetet med att stärka det asylsökande ensamkommande barnets rättsliga ställning kan fortsätta. (Less) - Abstract
- The reception of asylum-seeking unaccompanied minors has become a mandatory task for the Swedish municipalities. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how this change in legislation affects the child's legal status. Unaccompanied minors are defined as children under 18 who, upon arrival in Sweden, are separated from both their parents or from another adult who may be considered to have entered in their parents' place, or who after their arrival do not have such a legal guardian. International acts stipulate that unaccompanied minors are entitled to, for instance, a legal representative, as well as care and accommodation in the country where they are seeking asylum.
A study on previous legislation shows that there were not... (More) - The reception of asylum-seeking unaccompanied minors has become a mandatory task for the Swedish municipalities. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how this change in legislation affects the child's legal status. Unaccompanied minors are defined as children under 18 who, upon arrival in Sweden, are separated from both their parents or from another adult who may be considered to have entered in their parents' place, or who after their arrival do not have such a legal guardian. International acts stipulate that unaccompanied minors are entitled to, for instance, a legal representative, as well as care and accommodation in the country where they are seeking asylum.
A study on previous legislation shows that there were not specific rules governing whether the state government or the municipality was to be responsible for the unaccompanied minors. In 2006, municipalities began to sign agreements with the Swedish Migration Board about reception of unaccompanied minors. However, there was a large increase in the number of unaccompanied minors seeking asylum in Sweden, and there were not enough placements available in the municipalities. Many suggestions were proposed as to how the system could be changed. One suggestion was to make the reception a mandatory task for the municipalities. However, it was questioned whether the child's needs could be met under such an arrangement.
Since January 1, 2014 asylum-seeking unaccompanied minors may be assigned to all municipalities in Sweden. The amendment touched upon a number of public law provisions relating to the principle of the municipal self-government. An example of this is that the municipalities are entitled to financial support for duties that the state requires them to perform. Both positive and negative effects have been observed since the amendment entered into force. A positive effect is that the new system enhances better conditions to cope with further large increases in the number of asylum applications. An empirical study shows that children are now assigned to a municipality after only a few days. In light of this, another positive effect is that there is a greater continuity in the reception. Increased continuity enables the implementation of many other rights through the child’s representative. A negative effect is that a reception of unaccompanied minors as a mandatory task without sufficient funding could lead to a poor quality of reception in some municipalities. Another uncertainty is that one municipality has refused to accept children assigned to it, resulting in the perpetuation of the risk of a lack of placements.
The amendment has had positive effects on the child's legal status. The negative effects, or rather the risk of these, contribute to an uncertainty about the impact of the positive effects. Because of this uncertainty the legislation must be further evaluated so that efforts to strengthen the asylum-seeking unaccompanied minor's legal status may continue. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/4450661
- author
- Windolf, Johanna LU
- supervisor
- organization
- alternative title
- An improved reception of asylum-seeking unaccompanied minors? A study on a new mandatory task for the municipalities
- course
- JURM02 20141
- year
- 2014
- type
- H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
- subject
- keywords
- LMA, barnets rättsliga ställning, kommunalt mottagande, asylsökande ensamkommande barn, offentlig rätt, socialrätt, unaccompanied minors
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 4450661
- date added to LUP
- 2014-06-12 09:04:04
- date last changed
- 2016-12-13 09:35:55
@misc{4450661,
abstract = {{The reception of asylum-seeking unaccompanied minors has become a mandatory task for the Swedish municipalities. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how this change in legislation affects the child's legal status. Unaccompanied minors are defined as children under 18 who, upon arrival in Sweden, are separated from both their parents or from another adult who may be considered to have entered in their parents' place, or who after their arrival do not have such a legal guardian. International acts stipulate that unaccompanied minors are entitled to, for instance, a legal representative, as well as care and accommodation in the country where they are seeking asylum.
A study on previous legislation shows that there were not specific rules governing whether the state government or the municipality was to be responsible for the unaccompanied minors. In 2006, municipalities began to sign agreements with the Swedish Migration Board about reception of unaccompanied minors. However, there was a large increase in the number of unaccompanied minors seeking asylum in Sweden, and there were not enough placements available in the municipalities. Many suggestions were proposed as to how the system could be changed. One suggestion was to make the reception a mandatory task for the municipalities. However, it was questioned whether the child's needs could be met under such an arrangement.
Since January 1, 2014 asylum-seeking unaccompanied minors may be assigned to all municipalities in Sweden. The amendment touched upon a number of public law provisions relating to the principle of the municipal self-government. An example of this is that the municipalities are entitled to financial support for duties that the state requires them to perform. Both positive and negative effects have been observed since the amendment entered into force. A positive effect is that the new system enhances better conditions to cope with further large increases in the number of asylum applications. An empirical study shows that children are now assigned to a municipality after only a few days. In light of this, another positive effect is that there is a greater continuity in the reception. Increased continuity enables the implementation of many other rights through the child’s representative. A negative effect is that a reception of unaccompanied minors as a mandatory task without sufficient funding could lead to a poor quality of reception in some municipalities. Another uncertainty is that one municipality has refused to accept children assigned to it, resulting in the perpetuation of the risk of a lack of placements.
The amendment has had positive effects on the child's legal status. The negative effects, or rather the risk of these, contribute to an uncertainty about the impact of the positive effects. Because of this uncertainty the legislation must be further evaluated so that efforts to strengthen the asylum-seeking unaccompanied minor's legal status may continue.}},
author = {{Windolf, Johanna}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Ett förbättrat mottagande av asylsökande ensamkommande barn? En studie om en ny obligatorisk uppgift för kommunerna}},
year = {{2014}},
}