‘Overcoming Hopelessness’: Asylum Seekers’ Experiences of Precarity and Empowerment in Sweden

Abstract

Sweden has long been seen as a generous, inclusive provider for refugees, historically granting social rights on par with citizens shortly upon arrival. However, extensive recent academic literature has come to critique this perception, highlighting retrenchments and restrictive developments in asylum policy amid increasing precarity for asylum seekers. Studies have also documented mental health vulnerabilities among refugees and asylum seekers, often linked to their insecure legal status. At the same time, a critical literature has aimed to challenge prevailing narratives of the refugees as a vulnerable and politically muted group, by exploring the concepts of agency and resilience. This thesis seeks to develop this seemingly contradictory discussion. By conducting six in-depth interviews with Swedish asylum seekers from the past decade, the asylum process and settlement of seven individuals is explored. Examining themes of credibility, temporality, and resource scarcity, the research identifies significant challenges facing asylum seekers in Sweden. While asylum seekers demonstrate resilience and resourcefulness, the study reveals a diversity of distinct, structural constraints on agency, highlighting the complexity of decision-making within limited options.

Popular Abstract

Sweden has historically had a reputation for its generosity and inclusivity towards refugees, granting social rights on par with citizens shortly upon arrival. However, partly because of broader social and political developments, such as restrictive immigration reforms following growing numbers of asylum seekers in 2015 and 2016, rising anti-immigrant sentiment, and the mainstreaming of social-conservative nationalism, this image is increasingly being brought into question. Studies have also shown a prevalence of mental health vulnerabilities among refugees, often relating to legal uncertainty. In contrast to the framing of asylum seekers and refugees as vulnerable, is a literature related to critical feminist theory, that emphasizes individual agency and resilience. This creates a fundamental contradiction – contemporary asylum seekers are legal constructs, strongly affected by legal doctrine and regulatory frameworks, and their precarious position in society makes them vulnerable. A priori, this would seem to make them lack agency to some extent.
Based on six in-depth interviews with individuals who sought refuge in Sweden in the last decade, the study examines their migration process and settlement in Sweden. The findings indicate that legal obstacles and settlement issues, such as housing and employment, pose significant challenges for people seeking refuge in Sweden. Analyzing the themes of credibility and burden of proof; time and uncertainty; and lack of resources, the study finds considerable variety in challenges facing asylum seekers in Sweden depending much on personal circumstances and characteristics of the person, such as their national background, age and whether they migrated to Sweden alone or with their family. The challenges highlight the constraints on asylum seekers' agency within the Swedish context, even as they exhibit resilience and employ various strategies to navigate their circumstances, showing the complexities of intentionality and the limits of agency in constrained environments.

• author: Fritjofsson, Hugo
• supervisor: Dalia Abdelhady
• organization: School of Social Work; Department of Sociology; Sociology
• course: WPMM42 20231
• year: 2023
• type: H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
• subject: Social Sciences
• keywords: Sweden, asylum, migration, qualitative, refugees
• language: English
• id: 9136121
• date added to LUP: 2023-09-27 14:56:01
• date last changed: 2023-09-27 14:56:01