Report from EMN Sweden EMN Annual Report 2017 on Migration ... · EMN Annual Report on Migration and Asylum 2016 Sweden 4 Overview summary This report aims to outline the most significant

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EMN Annual Report on Migration and Asylum 2016Sweden

Report from EMN Sweden2017

European Migration Network

Co-funded by the European Union

EMN Annual Report on Migration and Asylum 2016 – Sweden

© Migrationsverket (Swedish Migration Agency), 2017Editor: Bernd Parusel

Diarienummer 2.2.1-2016-187480

This publication can be downloaded from www.emnsweden.seContact: [email protected]

The Swedish National Contact Point of the European Migration Network (EMN) is financially supported by the European Union and the Swedish Migration Agency.

The EMN has been established via Council Decision 2008/381/EC.

Contents

Overview summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Overall trend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4International protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Unaccompanied minors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Increased immigration for family reasons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Labour-related immigration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8International students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Sammanfattande översikt på svenska . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Övergripande trender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Internationellt skydd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Ensamkommande barn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Ökad immigration av familjeskäl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Arbetsmarknadsrelaterad immigration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Internationella studenter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

2 Overview of asylum and migration policy developments . . . . . . . . 152.1 Organisational structure of asylum and migration policy . . . . . . . . . 152.2 Political and institutional developments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162.3 Overall developments and debates concerning

asylum and migration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

3 Legal migration and mobility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203.1 Economic migration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203.2 International students and visiting researchers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223.3 Family reunification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243.4 Citizenship and naturalisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273.5 Visa Policy and Schengen co-operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

4 International protection including asylum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294.1 Applications for international protection and asylum procedures . . . 304.2 Reception of asylum applicants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324.3 Asylum decisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334.4 Integration of persons who are granted protection . . . . . . . . . . . . 364.5 Resettlement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

5 Unaccompanied minors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

6 Traffickinginhumanbeings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

7 Irregular migration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

8 Return migration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45


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Overview summary

This report aims to outline the most significant developments in the area of migration and asylum in Sweden in 2016 and to comment on relevant public debates, also in the context of European policy development and its impact on the national level.

Overall trend

As regards migration to Sweden, the year 2016 was characterised by a very signi-ficant decrease in the number of people seeking protection. In total, Sweden reg-istered roughly 29,000 new asylum applicants, which is less than one fifth of the number registered in 2015, and the lowest annual figure recorded over the past seven years. However, given the extraordinary asylum situation of 2015, when almost 163,000 asylum applications were made, there were still many challenges even in 2016. The average processing time for asylum applications was 328 days, and the Migration Agency tried to cope with a huge backlog of pending applications. In fact, it made a record number of first-instance asylum decisions. In total, almost 112,000 decisions were taken, 60 percent of which were positive.

The huge increase in the number of asylum decisions also meant that the overall number of residence permits that were issued during the year was at a record high. In total, 150,530 first-time residence permits were granted for protection reasons, family reunification and family formation, labour immigration, and international stu-dents. This represents and increase by 32 percent compared to 2015, when 114,471 individuals received a first-time residence permit in Sweden. The figure for 2016 rep-resents indeed the highest figure recorded in Sweden in modern times.1

Table 1 (absolute numbers) and Figure 1 (percentages) show the main categories of residence permits that were granted in 2016. Persons who immigrated to Sweden for protection reasons (asylum) and those that came on the basis of family reunifica-tion or on other family-related grounds constituted the largest broad categories of immigrants, as during the year before. The number of permits granted for protec-tion reasons more than doubled between 2015 (36,645 permits) and 2016 (71,571). Compared to this, the number of permits issued for family reasons only increased modestly, from 37,279 in 2015 to 39,027 in 2016.

Labour immigrants (employment reasons) and international students from third coun-tries constituted the third and fourth largest categories of immigrants in 2016, with 24,709 and close to 11,000 people, respectively. The number of labour immigrants decreased in 2016, compared to 2015, while the number of international students remained stable, with only a very small increase. Another 4,327 people were granted residence permits under EU rules regarding the free movement of people, such as third-country nationals who had a long-term resident status in another Member

1 The statistical data provided by the Swedish Migration Agency go back to 1980.


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State or third-country nationals who were family members of an EU citizen moving to Sweden.2

Table 1: Overall immigration trend: First-time residence permits granted in 2014–2016

Reasons 2014 2015 2016

Protection/humanitarian reasons * 35,642 36,645 71,571

Family reasons 35,965 37,279 39,027

Employment reasons ** 25,570 26,998 24,709

Study reasons *** 10,604 10,758 10,896

Free movement EU/EES **** 7,394 2,791 4,327

Total 115,175 114,471 150,530

* This includes protection for refugees, subsidiary protection, resettlement and residence permits granted due to exceptionally distressing circumstances or because a person could not be returned.

** Includes 8,628 family members of labour immigrants.

*** Includes 1,425 family members of international students.

**** Please note that, as described above, these numbers are not comparable over the period.

Source: Swedish Migration Agency

Figure 1: Overall immigration: First-time residence permits granted 2016


Protection/humanitarian reasons

Family reasons

Employment reasons

Study reasons

Free movement EU/EES

48%

26%

16%

7%3%

2 Since May 2014, EU- and EEA-citizens do not need to register their right of residence at the Migration Agency any more, which is why the number of permits or residence rights granted under EU free movement rules appears much smaller for 2015 and 2016 compared to previous years.


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Figure 2 below shows the granting of residence and work permits in a longer-term perspective. Residence permits granted for protection reasons have increased over the last five years, and especially in 2016. In comparison, family-related immigration only grew modestly. For work-related immigration, the trend shows a decrease. Over the five-year period 2012–2016, labour migration was most significant in 2012. As far as international students (immigration for education purposes) are concerned, a slowly increasing trend is visible.

Finally, people coming to Sweden under EU free movement rights are difficult to compare over the five-year period as EU-citizens do not need to register their right to stay any more (since May 2014). While the category “Free movement EU/EES” covered a large group of people until 2014, it now only includes minor groups, as described in footnote 2.

Figure 2: Timeline - all first-time residence permits granted, 2012–2016

2015201420132012 2016

160,000

140,000

120,000

100,000

80,000

60,000

40,000

20,000

0 Source: Swedish Migration Agency

Free movement EU/EES

Study reasons

Employment reasons

Family reasons

Protection/humanitarian reasons

International protection

The number of asylum seekers coming to Sweden in 2016 decreased by over 82% compared to the year before. 28,939 people applied for asylum, in contrast to almost 163,000 in 2015, which was an unprecedentedly high number. Most asylum seekers in 2016 came from came from Syria (19%), Afghanistan (10%) and Iraq (9.5%).

In a European perspective, Sweden continued to be a primary destination and recipi-ent country for asylum seekers, but not to the same degree as in previous years. While Sweden registered the third highest number of asylum seekers of all EU Mem-ber States in 2015 (after Germany and Hungary), it was the eighth largest recipient country in 2016 (after Germany, Italy, France and five other countries).3

When it comes to outcomes of asylum procedures, the Swedish Migration Agency made a total of 111,979 first-instance decisions on asylum cases in 2016. This figure represents an all-time high. The number of decisions almost doubled compared to 2015, when 58,802 decisions were made.

More than 67,258 individuals were granted protection in 2016. Thus, the overall protection rate was 60% in 2016, as compared to 55% in 2015. If Dublin cases and

3 Source: Eurostat Database.


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other asylum cases that Sweden did not examine materially, e.g. cases that were written off,4 are excluded from this calculation, the protection rate was 77%, exactly as in 2015.

The lower level of asylum applicants in 2016 is to a large degree considered a result of developments elsewhere in Europe, such as an agreement between the EU and Turkey to stop irregular migrant crossings to the Greek islands, and border closures along the “Balkan route” and in Central Europe as well as Denmark. To a certain extent, legislative changes in Sweden as well as Swedish border controls and ID-checks on transportation from Denmark may also have contributed to this develop-ment. Among other measures, the Swedish Parliament passed a temporary law in 2016, introducing temporary residence permits for beneficiaries of international pro-tection (instead of permanent ones) and restricting the right to family reunification.

Unaccompanied minors

While the number of unaccompanied minors (UAM) had escalated drastically in 2015, it declined very strongly in 2016. While 35,400 applications by UAM had been regis-tered in 2015, their number was 2,199 in 2016. Thus, in relative terms, the number of UAM applying for asylum in Sweden decreased even more (-94%) than the overall number of asylum seekers (-82%). Afghanistan continued to be the most important country of origin of UAM coming to Sweden (30% of all UAM), followed by Somalia (19%) and Syria (8%). This means that Afghanistan was somewhat less important as a country of origin in 2016. In 2015, two thirds (66%) of all asylum-seeking UAM had come from Afghanistan.

UAM often lack documents that can prove their age. The results of a medical age assessment are one of several possible pieces of evidence that an allegedly under-age applicant can use to fulfil the burden of proof with respect to his/her age, and the results are evaluated alongside other evidence. In April 2016, the Swedish Govern-ment decided that the National Board of Forensic Medicine in Sweden would start to carry out medical age assessments of UAM asylum seekers in cooperation with the Migration Agency. The methods used include examining the applicants’ teeth and knee joints. Medical age assessments in accordance with the new guidelines started in spring 2017.

Increased immigration for family reasons

Mostly as a consequence of the rising number of asylum seekers coming to Sweden in 2015, family-related immigration also increased in 2016, however rather modestly in comparison to the number of people that were granted a residence permit for pro-tection reasons. The Swedish Migration Agency granted 39,000 residence permits for family reasons in 2016, as compared to around 37,300 in 2015.

As mentioned above, a new temporary law restricting the possibility of being granted a residence permit in Sweden, and the right to family reunification, entered into force on 20 July 2016. The law is intended to be in force for three years and aims to tem-porarily adapt the Swedish asylum regulations to the minimum level according to the EU-acquis. The temporary law means that refugees and persons eligible for subsidiary protection in Sweden are granted temporary residence permits instead of perma-nent ones, which is the main rule under the Aliens Act. Refugees who are granted temporary residence permits under the temporary law and who are deemed to have

4 An application is written off, among other reasons, if the applicant absconds or withdraws his or her application. In 2016, almost 14,300 applications were written off.


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well-grounded prospects of obtaining a permanent residence permit continue to have a right to family reunification with their spouse, cohabitant and/or minor children, and children who are refugees have a right to reunification with their parents. By way of contrast, a beneficiary of subsidiary protection who has submitted his/her asylum application after 24 November 2015 has no right to family reunification under the temporary act.

The temporary act also introduced stricter maintenance requirements as a condition for family reunification by extending them to include both the sponsor him-/herself and support to the family member. There are certain exceptions, however. The main-tenance requirement will not apply if the sponsor is a child. Family members of benefi-ciaries of international protection are also exempt from the maintenance requirement if the family member applies for family reunification within three months of the date when the beneficiary of protection obtained his/her residence permit. These excep-tions do not apply to family formation (newly established relationships).

Labour-related immigration

The number of immigrants coming to Sweden for employment purposes decreased from 26,998 in 2015 to 24,709 in 2016. These figures also include accompanying family members of labour immigrants (roughly 10,000 in 2015 and 8,628 in 2016).

IT architects, systems analysts, and test managers (3,737 persons), berry pickers and planters (3,199) and engineering professionals (790) represented the largest occupational groups among those who received a work permit in Sweden.

The Swedish system for labour immigration from third countries, and especially allega-tions of wage-dumping and exploitation of foreign workers, has been a topic of frequent public debate. The Swedish Government appointed a committee on labour migration in 2015, aimed at strengthening the position of labour migrants. In December 2016, the committee reported back to the Swedish Government. Amongst other things, the committee suggested additional sanctions against employers who intentionally do not abide by the laws regulating the employment of third country nationals. These sugges-tions might eventually lead to amendments to the current Swedish labour immigration system.

International students

The number of people moving to Sweden for study purposes also increased slightly, from 10,758 in 2015 to 10,896 in 2016. Among those individuals that were granted a permit in 2016, 8,098 were admitted as students at universities and university colleges, and 928 as doctoral students. Another 1,425 individuals were admitted as relatives of international students.

The remaining 445 persons received a residence permit to look for work after their studies in Sweden. The possibility of applying for this type of “job-seeker permit” was introduced in 2014. In addition to the 445 students that received such a permit in 2016, 394 third-country nationals with a residence permit for studies made a direct status change and received a residence permit for employment purposes.


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Sammanfattande översikt på svenska

Denna rapport syftar till att ge en översikt av de viktigaste utvecklingarna inom mig-ration och asyl i Sverige under 2016 och redovisa de relevanta offentliga diskussio-nerna inom området, också i ljuset av europeisk politikutveckling och dess inflytande på den nationella nivån.

Övergripande trender

Vad gäller migrationen till Sverige karaktäriserades 2016 av en mycket påtaglig minskning av antalet personer som sökte skydd. Totalt registrerade Sverige ungefär 29 000 nya asylansökningar, vilket är mindre än en femtedel av det antal som regist-rerades under 2015 och den lägsta siffran på de senaste sju åren. Mot bakgrund av den extrema asylsituationen under 2015, när nästan 163 000 asylansökningar gjor-des, fanns det fortfarande många utmaningar under 2016. Den genomsnittliga hand-läggningstiden för asylansökningar var 328 dagar och Migrationsverket försökte kom-ma ikapp med en stor eftersläpning av ansökningar från tidigare år. Detta ledde till att Migrationsverket fattade ett rekordstort antal beslut i asylärenden i första instans. Totalt fattades beslut i nästan 112 000 ärenden varav 60 procent var positiva.

Den stora ökningen av antalet asylbeslut betydde att det totala antalet utfärdade uppehållstillstånd under året också nådde rekordnivåer. Totalt beviljades 150 530 första-gångs uppehållstillstånd med anledning av skyddsorsaker, familjeåterförening/familjebildning, arbetskraftsinvandring och för internationella studenter. Detta innebär en ökning med 32 procent jämfört med 2015 när 114 471 personer fick uppehållstill-stånd för första gången i Sverige. Siffran för 2016 är det högsta antal som registre-rats i Sverige under modern tid.5

I tabell 1 (absolut antal) och figur 1 (procent) visas de huvudsakliga kategorierna för de uppehållstillstånd som beviljades under 2016. Personer som immigrerade till Sverige för att söka skydd eller av humanitära orsaker och de som kom p.g.a. familjeåterförening eller andra familjerelaterade orsaker är, precis som året innan, de största kategorierna av immigranter. Antalet uppehållstillstånd som beviljades av skyddsskäl mer än fördubblades mellan 2015 (36 645 tillstånd) och 2016 (71 571 tillstånd). Jämförd med detta var ökningen för beviljade tillstånd av familjeskäl blyg-sam, från 37 279 under 2015 till 39 027 under 2016.

Arbetskraftsinvandrare och internationella studenter från tredjeland utgör de tredje och fjärde största kategorierna av immigranter 2016 med 24 709 respektive nästan 11 000 personer. Antalet arbetskraftsinvandrare minskade under 2016 jämfört med 2015 medan antalet internationella studenter var stabilt med bara en mycket liten ökning. Ytterligare 4 327 personer beviljades uppehållstillstånd enligt EU-reglerna om fri rörlighet för personer, såsom exempelvis tredjelandsmedborgare som har varak-

5 Migrationsverkets statistik går tillbaka till 1980.


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tiga uppehållstillstånd i en annan medlemsstat eller tredjelandsmedborgare som är familjemedlemmar till en EU-medborgare som flyttar till Sverige. 6

Tabell 1: Övergripande immigrationstrender: beviljade förstagångsansökningar för uppehållstillstånd 2014–2016

Anledning 2014 2015 2016

Skydd/humanitära grunder * 35 642 36 645 71 571

Familjeskäl 35 965 37 279 39 027

Arbetsmarknadsskäl ** 25 570 26 998 24 709

Studier *** 10 604 10 758 10 896

Fri rörlighet EU/EES **** 7 394 2 791 4 327

Totalt 115 175 114 471 150 530

* Detta inkluderar skydd för flyktingar, alternativt skyddsbehövande, vidarebosättning och uppehållstillstånd beviljade p.g.a. synnerligen ömmande omständigheter eller för att en person inte kan återvändas till sitt hemland.

** Inkluderar 8 628 familjemedlemmar till arbetskraftsinvandrare.

*** Inkluderar 1 425 familjemedlemmar till internationella studenter.

**** Observera att dessa siffror, så som beskrivits ovan, inte är jämförbara över tidsperioden.

Källa: Migrationsverket

Figur 1: Övergripande immigration: beviljade förstagångsansökningar för uppehållstillstånd 2016

Källa: Migrationsverket

Skydd/humanitära grunder

Familjeskäl

Arbetsmarknadsskäl

Studier

Fri rörlighet EU/EES

48%

26%

16%

7%3%

6 Sedan maj 2014 behöver EU- och EEA-medborgare inte längre registrera sin uppehållsrätt hos Migrationsverket vilket är anledningen till att antalet tillstånd eller uppehållsrätter som beviljats med anledning av EU:s regler om fri rörlighet förefaller vara mycket mindre 2015 och 2016 jämfört med tidigare år.


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Figur 2 nedan visar beviljande av uppehållstillstånd och arbetstillstånd i ett längre per-spektiv. Uppehållstillstånd för skyddsbehövande har ökat under de senaste fem åren och då särskilt under 2016. I jämförelse har den familjerelaterade immigrationen bara ökat marginellt. För arbetskraftsinvandring visar trenden en minskning. Över femårs-perioden 2012–2016 var arbetskraftsinvandringen störst 2012. Vad gäller internatio-nella studenter (immigration av studieskäl) finns en långsamt stigande trend.

Personer som flyttat till Sverige under EU-reglerna om fri rörlighet för personer är svårt att jämföra över tidsperioden eftersom EU-medborgare inte behöver registrera sin uppehållsrätt längre (sedan maj 2014). Så medan kategorin ”fri rörlighet EU/EES” täckte in stora grupper av immigranter fram till 2014 inkluderas numera bara mindre grupper, vilket har förklarats i fotnot 6.

Figur 2: Tidslinje – beviljade förstagångs-uppehållstillstånd, 2012–2016

Källa: Migrationsverket2015201420132012 2016

Fri rörlighet EU/EES

Studier

Arbetsmarknadsskäl

Familjeskäl

Skydd/humanitära grunder

160 000

140 000

120 000

100 000

80 000

60 000

40 000

20 000

0

Internationellt skydd

Antalet asylsökande som kom till Sverige under 2016 minskade med över 82% jäm-fört med året innan. 28 939 personer sökte asyl, en stor kontrast till nästan 163 000 ansökningar under 2015, vilket var ett rekordstort antal. De flesta asylsökande under 2016 kom från Syrien (19%), Afghanistan (10%) och Irak (9,5%)

I ett europeiskt perspektiv fortsatte Sverige att vara ett primärt destinations- och mottagningsland för asylsökande men inte alls i samma utsträckning som tidigare år. Medan Sverige under 2015 registrerade det tredje största antalet asylsökande av alla medlemsländer i EU (efter Tyskland och Ungern) var Sverige det åttonde största mot-tagarlandet 2016 (efter Tyskland, Italien, Frankrike och fem andra länder).7

När det gäller beslut i asylärenden så fattade Migrationsverket under 2016 totalt 111 979 beslut i första instans. Detta innebär fler än någonsin tidigare. Antalet beslut nästan fördubblandes jämfört med 2015 då 58 802 beslut fattades.

Mer än 67 258 personer beviljades skydd under 2016. Således var den totala skyddsandelen 60% under 2016, vilket kan jämföras med 55% under 2015. Om Dublin-ärenden och andra asylärenden som inte prövades materiellt i Sverige, ex.

7 Källa: Eurostat.


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ärenden som avskrevs,8 exkluderas ur beräkningen var skyddsandelen 77%, precis samma som under 2015.

Det lägre antalet asylsökande under 2016 anses till stor del vara ett resultat av utvecklingar på andra håll i Europa, såsom en överenskommelse mellan EU och Turki-et om att stoppa irreguljära migrationsströmmar till de grekiska öarna och stängning av gränser längs rutten från Balkan och in i Centraleuropa och också till Danmark. Till en viss del kan ändringar i den svenska lagstiftningen och svensk gränskontroll och ID-kontroll på transporter från Danmark också ha bidragit till denna utveckling. Bland andra åtgärder beslutade Riksdagen 2016 om en tillfällig lag vilken införde tillfälliga uppehållstillstånd för de som får internationellt skydd (istället för permanenta uppe-hållstillstånd) och begränsningar i rätten till familjeåterförening.

Ensamkommande barn

Medan antalet ensamkommande barn (barn utan vårdnadshavare) ökade drastiskt under 2015 minskade det mycket under 2016. Medan 35 400 asylansökningar från ensamkommande barn registrerades under 2015 var antalet 2 199 under 2016. Med andra ord minskade, i relativa termer, antalet ensamkommande barn som sökte asyl i Sverige ännu mer (-94%) än det totala antalet asylsökande (-82%). Afghanistan fort-satte att vara det vanligaste ursprungslandet för de ensamkommande barn som kom till Sverige (30% av alla ensamkommande barn), följt av Somalia (19%) och Syrien (8%). Detta betyder att Afghanistan var något mindre betydelsefullt som ursprungs-land under 2016 – under 2015 var två tredjedelar (66%) av alla asylsökande ensam-kommande barn från Afghanistan.

Ensamkommande barn saknar ofta dokument som kan bevisa deras ålder. Resultatet av en medicinsk åldersbestämning är ofta ett av flera möjliga bevis som en som har uppgivit sig vara underårig asylsökande kan använda för att uppfylla beviskravet vad gäller hans/hennes ålder och ett sådant resultat ska värderas tillsammans med andra bevis. I april 2016 beslutade regeringen att Rättsmedicinalverket skulle börja utföra medicinsk åldersbestämning av asylsökande ensamkommande barn i samarbete med Migrationsverket. De metoder som används inkluderar att undersöka den sökandes tänder och knäleder. Medicinsk åldersbedömning i enlighet med de nya riktlinjerna började göras under våren 2017.

Ökad immigration av familjeskäl

Framförallt som en konsekvens av det stigande antalet asylsökande som kom till Sverige under 2015, har också immigrationen av familjeskäl ökat under 2016, om än ganska blygsamt in relation till det antal personer som fick uppehållstillstånd av skyddsskäl. Migrationsverket beviljade 39 000 uppehållstillstånd av familjeskäl under 2016, jämfört runt 37 300 under 2015.

Som har nämnts ovan, så trädde en ny tillfällig lag i kraft den 20 juli 2016 vilken begränsar möjligheten att beviljas uppehållstillstånd i Sverige och även begränsar rätten till familjeåterförening. Lagen planeras att vara i kraft i tre år och syftar till att temporärt anpassa de svenska asylreglerna till miniminivå i enlighet med EU-lagstift-ningen. Den tillfälliga lagen betyder att flyktingar och personer som har rätt till sub-sidiärt skydd i Sverige ges tillfälliga uppehållstillstånd istället för permanenta, vilket är huvudregeln enligt Utlänningslagen. Flyktingar som beviljas tidsbegränsade uppe-hållstillstånd enligt den tillfälliga lagen och som bedöms ha goda förutsättningar för att

8 En ansökan avskrivs bl.a. om den sökande avviker eller drar tillbaka sin ansökan. Under 2016 avskrevs nästan 14 300 asylansökningar.


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kunna erhålla ett permanent uppehållstillstånd har även fortsättningsvis rätt till famil-jeåterförening med sin make/maka, sambo och/eller minderåriga barn och barn som är flyktingar har rätt till återförening med sina föräldrar. Detta till skillnad från de som får subsidiärt skydd och har lämnat in sin ansökan efter den 24 november 2015 vilka normalt inte längre har rätt till någon familjeåterförening enligt den tillfälliga lagen.

Den tillfälliga lagen introducerade också hårdare försörjningskrav som ett villkor för familjeåterförening genom att utöka kraven till att inkludera både anknytningsper-sonen själv och försörjning av familjemedlemmarna. Det finns dock vissa undantag. Försörjningskravet gäller inte om anknytningspersonen är ett barn. Familjemedlemmar till en person som fått internationellt skydd är också undantagna från försörjningskra-vet om familjemedlemmen ansöker om familjeåterförening inom tre månader från det datum då den som fått skydd fick sitt uppehållstillstånd. Dessa undantag gäller inte för familjeformation (nyetablerade relationer).

Arbetsmarknadsrelaterad immigration

Antalet migranter som kom till Sverige av arbetsmarknadsorsaker minskade från 26 998 under 2015 till 24 709 under 2016. Dessa siffror inkluderar medföljande famil-jemedlemmar till arbetskraftsinvandrare (ungefär 10 000 år 2015 och 8 628 år 2016).

IT-arkitekter, systemanalytiker och test managers (3 737 personer), bärplockare och planterare (3 199) och ingenjörer (790) är de största yrkesgrupperna bland de som fick ett arbetstillstånd i Sverige.

Det svenska systemet för arbetskraftsinvandring från tredjeland, och särskilt ankla-gelser om lönedumpning och exploatering av utländska arbetare, har varit ett vanligt förekommande ämne i den offentliga debatten. Regeringen tillsatte en kommitté om arbetskraftsinvandring 2015, med syfte att stärka rätten för arbetskraftsinvandrare. Kommittén kom med sina förslag i december 2016 och föreslog bland annat ytter-ligare sanktioner mot arbetsgivare som medvetet bryter mot de lagar som reglerar anställning av tredjelandsmedborgare. Dessa förslag kan så småningom leda till änd-ringar i det nuvarande svenska systemet för arbetskraftsinvandring.

Internationella studenter

Antalet personer som flyttade till Sverige för att studera ökade något, från 10 758 under 2015 till 10 869 under 2016. Bland de personer som fick tillstånd under 2016 var 8 098 antagna som studenter vid universitet och högskola och 928 var doktoran-der. Ytterligare 1 425 personer var medföljande anhöriga till internationella studenter.

De återstående 455 personerna fick uppehållstillstånd för att söka arbete efter avslu-tade studier i landet. Möjligheten att söka denna typ av ”jobb-sökar-tillstånd” inför-des 2014. Förutom de 445 studenter som fick ett sådant tillstånd under 2016 var det 394 tredjelandsmedborgare med uppehållstillstånd för studier som gjorde en direkt statusändring och fick uppehållstillstånd för arbete.


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1 Introduction

In accordance with Article 9(1) of Council Decision 2008/381/EC establishing the EMN, each National Contact Point of the EMN is required to provide every year a report describing the migration and asylum situation in the Member State, which shall include policy developments and statistical data. The report is structured so as to present relevant information on each aspect or dimension of migration and asylum.

As in 2014 and 2015, the EMN Annual Report on Migration and Asylum for 2016 con-sists of two parts and a statistical annex. Part I was designed as a questionnaire and is primarily intended to inform policy-makers within the European Commission about national developments that are relevant to them when analysing and evaluating the impact of EU legislation and policies. The Swedish contribution to Part I was complet-ed in February 2017 and sent to the Commission. Due to its rather technical nature and limited use for the general public, it remains unpublished but is available from the Swedish EMN NCP upon request.9 The same is true for the statistical annex, which was sent to the Commission in early May 2017.

This report represents Part II of the Swedish EMN Annual Report on Migration and Asylum for 2016. It is primarily intended for audiences that are interested in an over-view of the asylum and immigration situation in Sweden and specific national audi-ences, such as policy-makers, researchers, the media and the general public. It is published on the national website of EMN Sweden.10

Section 1 introduces the report. Section 2 provides an overview of asylum and migration policy developments, to set a general context for the developments to be described in more detail further below. It includes an overview of the general political developments, as well as main policy and legislative debates, broader developments in asylum and migration, plus institutional developments. Sections 3–8 describe spe-cific developments in the main areas of asylum and migration. Some sections are sub-divided into more specific, thematic sub-sections.

The Report covers the period 1st January to 31st December 2016. However, at some instance, it may also include references to developments that started in 2015 and continued in 2016, as well as references on measures taken in earlier years and their effects. It is the 13th report in a series of such EMN annual reports. Until 2015, however, the EMN Annual Report on Migration and Asylum had a different title, EMN Annual Policy Report.

9 Please contact [email protected] to obtain the report.

10 www.emnsweden.se.


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2 Overview of asylum and migration policy developments

2.1 Organisational structure of asylum and migration policy

In Sweden, the Government sets out the general guidelines for migration policy by proposing bills. It is the responsibility of the Riksdag (Swedish Parliament) to pass or reject proposed bills and amendments. The Government can supplement laws with ordinances. The Ministry of Justice is the Government body responsible for migration policy. It is also responsible for certain aspects of integration policies, which are split between several other ministries but mainly lie within the responsibilities of the Minis-try of Employment.

The Swedish Migration Agency and the Swedish Police Authority report to the Ministry of Justice and there is considerable cooperation at various levels between the ministry and these authorities. However, the authorities are formally subordinated the Govern-ment as a whole and not a single Ministry.11

Within the area of migration and asylum, the Swedish Migration Agency is the responsible administrative agency concerning residence permits, work permits, visas, the reception of asylum seekers, return, acquisition of citizenship and repatriation. Also active in the area of migration are the Migration Courts, the Migration Court of Appeal, the Police Authority, the Swedish Prison and Probation Service, the Swedish missions abroad and the Public Employment Service (Arbetsförmedlingen). In addi-tion, the County Administrative Boards negotiate with the municipalities on the recep-tion of individuals who have been granted protection.

Legal provisions pertaining to the tasks of the Swedish Migration Agency are found primarily in the Aliens Act, the Aliens Ordinance and the Ordinance with Instructions for the Swedish Migration Agency. The Government also manages the Agency by means of annual budget appropriation directives that specify the operational budget and objectives.

The Migration Agency has the main responsibility for the reception of asylum seekers, from the date on which an application for asylum has been submitted until the person has been received by a municipality after being granted a residence permit or has left the country, if notified that the application has been rejected. The integration of rec-ognised refugees and beneficiaries of subsidiary protection is a responsibility of the Public Employment Service Arbetsförmedlingen and the 290 Swedish municipalities.

While the Swedish Migration Agency has the responsibility for voluntary returns, the Police Authority is the main responsible authority for border control and forced return. The Customs and the Coast Guard are required to assist the Police in the con-trol of third country nationals’ entry and exit and the Coast Guard shall control the vessel traffic at sea borders. According to the instruction for the Swedish National Police Agency, the Agency is the national contact point for the European Agency for

11 The Swedish system is based on independent administrative authorities. No public authority or minister may determine how an administrative authority is to decide in a particular case involving the exercise of public authority vis-à-vis a private subject or a local authority, or the application of law.


16

the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union (Frontex).

The legal system pertaining to migration in Sweden is governed by the Aliens Act (Utlänningslagen, Statute 2005:716), and emanating from that law, the Aliens’ Ordi-nance (Utlänningsförordningen, Statute 2006:97). The current Aliens Act took effect on 31 March 2006 and has subsequently been amended many times. The Administra-tive Judicial Procedure Act (Statute 1971:291) governs with regard to appeals. The Administrative Procedure Act (Statute 1986:223) contains certain general statutes that govern all administrative agencies.

The Swedish migration system and asylum procedures are also regulated by the Reception of Asylum Seekers and Others Act (Statute 1994:137) and the Reception of Asylum Seekers and Others Ordinance (Statute 1994:361).

Border control is governed by the Regulation (EC) No 562/2006 of the European Par-liament and of the Council of 15 March 2006 establishing a Community Code on the rules governing the movement of persons across borders (Schengen Borders Code).

2.2 Political and institutional developments

Since the last general elections, which took place on 14 September 2014, Sweden has been governed by a minority coalition consisting of the Social Democratic Party and the Green Party. The Prime Minister, elected by the Riksdag, is the Social Demo-crat Mr. Stefan Löfven. Mr. Morgan Johansson, also representing the Social Democrat-ic Party, was appointed Minister for Justice and Migration. The institutional responsi-bility for policies regarding citizenship and naturalisation were transferred from the Employment Ministry to the Ministry of Justice.

On 1 March 2016, a new act for an effective and solidarity-based refugee reception system entered into force in Sweden, which also brought some alterations to the migration- and integration-related tasks of several public bodies. The law foresees that all municipalities within Sweden can be required to receive newly arrived refu-gees and other beneficiaries of protection, as well as their family members, for settle-ment.12 The new law also transferred the task of allocating recognized beneficiaries of protection to municipalities from the Swedish Employment Service to the Migration Agency as of 1 January 2017. The Swedish Government will decide how many benefi-ciaries of protection each Swedish county will have to accept. The 21 County Adminis-trative Boards then decide how to distribute the beneficiaries of protection among the municipalities within their respective jurisdiction. In accordance with the new law, the County Administrative Boards shall also be responsible for providing sufficient capaci-ties for the settlement of beneficiaries of protection. They shall also facilitate coopera-tion among municipalities within each region and follow-up on integration measures at regional and local level.13

12 According to the law, the assignment of such persons to municipalities shall be based on each municipality’s local labour market, its population size and the overall number of newly arrived immigrants, unaccompanied minors and asylum seekers already living in the municipality. Previously, the settlement of beneficiaries of protection was optional for municipalities, but this had created an unequal distribution of new arrivals across Sweden. The new law represents a challenge for many municipalities, especially those that suffer from housing shortages.

13 Even under the new law, however, beneficiaries of protection may choose to arrange their own housing and decide by themselves where within Sweden to settle.


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Within the Swedish Government, the Prime Minister has widened the mandate of the Minister for Employment and Integration, Ms. Ylva Johansson. Since February 2016, she has the mandate to coordinate and direct the Government’s work regarding the reception and integration of newly arrived beneficiaries of protection. To reflect this widened mandate, a new secretariat was established within the Government.

Other than that, the organisation of political and administrative responsibilities regarding migration and integration, as described in the previous section, remained largely unchanged.

2.3 Overall developments and debates concerning asylum and migration

ConsequencesofthehighnumberofasylumseekerscomingtoSweden in 2015

In 2016, many public and political debates regarding immigration to Sweden related to the consequences of the refugee situation during the previous year. In 2015, the number of asylum seekers had reached the record level of almost 163,000 people applying for protection. While the number of new asylum seekers declined strongly in 2016 (to just under 29,000 new applicants), the effects of the inflows of 2015 and before continued to affect many parts of Swedish society.

In particular, there were challenges relating to the backlog of pending asylum cases and applications for family reunification at the Swedish Migration Agency, problems for municipalities to uphold their various services (social services, schools, pre-schools, etc.) for their residents, and difficulties for the Swedish Police to enforce the return of rejected asylum applicants. Many debates circled around these broad topics. The above-mentioned law for a more effective and solidarity-based refugee reception system, which introduced a dispersal system for beneficiaries of protection, triggered some debate as well, as several municipalities were unable to fulfil their duties in accordance with this new law due to, for example, shortages of housing.

Another law, a temporary act to restrict the possibility of being granted a residence permit for protection purposes in Sweden, and the right to family reunification, which entered into force on 20 July 2016, was also preceded and followed by controversial debates. In general terms, while there was a broad political consensus regarding the need to reduce asylum-related immigration to Sweden, there were also many critical voices. Critics argued, for example, that temporary residence permits and restricted family reunification rights would make the integration of beneficiaries of protection more difficult.

Bordercontrolandid-checks

As a further response to the extraordinary refugee situation in the autumn of 2015, Sweden had reintroduced temporary border controls at internal Schengen border crossing points on 12 November 2015. These border controls were prolonged several times in 2016, and well into 2017. In addition, on 4 January 2016, a new government ordinance introduced extraterritorial ID-checks on travellers on public transporta-tion (busses, trains and boats) from Denmark, meaning that persons without ID-documents could not travel to Sweden from Denmark, using public transport. During 2016, the ID-checks were prolonged several times. Both measures, and especially the id-checks on travellers, prompted controversial debates. While they were considered useful and effective to monitor and restrict the inflow of asylum seekers, they were also criticised for making trans-border commuting between Denmark and Sweden more difficult and time-consuming. The operators of ferry routes between Germany and Sweden were also required to check their passengers’ identities.


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Integration policy

Challenges regarding the integration of new arrivals in Sweden, such as the lack of affordable housing in many regions and municipalities, and slow labour market inte-gration, also continued to play a major role in public and media debates. The govern-ment launched several initiatives to improve the job situation for newly arrived ben-eficiaries of protection, alleviate the shortage of teachers and improve the situation of schools that were particularly challenged by high numbers of newly arrived pupils, and facilitate language learning, among other policies and measures. Despite these initiatives and measures, problems surrounding the integration of beneficiaries of protection were a frequent topic of debate.

Opinion surveys, such as the annual “Svenska trender” survey carried out by the University of Gothenburg, also suggest that the share of the Swedish population that considers immigration and integration the most important challenge for Swedish soci-ety has increased substantially throughout recent years.14

It has to be said, however, that the degree to which integration is seen as problem-atic or challenging varies within Sweden. While some municipalities, especially bigger cities and metropolitan regions, signalled that they felt overburdened by the large number of new arrivals in recent years, others were actively trying to attract benefi-ciaries of protection for permanent settlement, or set themselves targets for convinc-ing asylum seekers to stay even after being recognised as beneficiaries of protection, instead of encouraging them to move further on to metropolitan areas.

Othertypesofimmigration

Migration flows other than asylum and refugees received much less public and media attention in 2016, also because the number of incoming migrants, e.g. for employ-ment, family, or study purposes changed little in comparison to previous years. To a certain extent, however, earlier debates about the effects and consequences of the Swedish labour immigration policy, especially with regard to cases of foreign work-ers being exploited by their employers, did continue, at least among experts, trade unions, employer organisations and policy-makers. In 2015, the Swedish Government had appointed a committee on labour migration, aimed at working towards improv-ing the situation of labour migrants in Sweden. In December 2016, the committee published its final report and made a number of policy suggestions.15 Among other issues, it suggested additional sanctions against employers who intentionally do not abide by the laws regulating the employment of third country nationals.

Return of rejected asylum seekers

To some degree, there has also been a debate regarding the difficulty of returning rejected asylum seekers and other persons who are not entitled to stay in Sweden, to their countries of origin. On 1 June 2016, amendments to the Reception of Asylum Seekers Act came into force in Sweden. Since then, a person who has applied for asylum and received a refusal of entry or expulsion order is now no longer entitled to

14 SOM-Institutet (2016): Svenska trender 1986–2015. Gotenburth University, p. 42.

15 Statens Offentliga Utredningar (2016): Stärkt ställning för arbetskraftsinvandrare på arbetsmarknaden - Betänkande av Utredningen om åtgärder för att stärka arbetskraftsinvandrares ställning på arbetsmarknaden. SOU 2016:91, Stockholm.


19

accommodation and daily allowance provided by the Swedish Migration Agency when the deadline for voluntary return has expired.16

This new approach sparked some criticism, especially among refugee support groups, which argued that instead of giving rejected asylum seekers a stronger incentive to return voluntarily, the new provision would encourage such persons to go into hiding. Even public institutions expressed doubts regarding the effects of this measure, with the Swedish Migration Agency stating in its annual report for 2016 that the change to the law had not contributed to higher voluntary return rates.17

16 The amendment does not apply to adults living with their children under the age of 18, however; they still have a right to assistance until they leave

17 Migrationsverket (2017): Årsredovisning 2016. Norrköping, p. 13.


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3 Legal migration and mobility

3.1 Economic migration

Labour immigration (employees)

The number of third-country nationals coming to Sweden as labour migrants decreased in 2016, as compared to the year before. Sweden granted 24,709 first-time residence permits for work-related reasons. This number was 26,998 in 2015. These broad figures include not only persons coming to Sweden because they found employment there (12,985 in 2016), but also their family members (8,628) as well as self-employed people (174), visiting researchers (907) and people who work in Sweden under special rules, e.g. as au pairs, trainees, artists or sportsmen (2,015).

Table 2 shows the overall development regarding labour immigration to Sweden for the period 2012–2016. The number of incoming employees has been rather stable, varying between a minimum of 12,521 people in 2014 and a maximum of 17,011 in 2012. Immigration for self-employment purposes has been very modest in size over many years, but the year 2016 marks the smallest number over the five-year period. Attracting migrants for self-employment purposes has not been a priority in Sweden.18

Table 2: Labour immigration to Sweden, 2012–2016

Broad category 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Employees 17,011 15,974 12,521 13,789 12,985

Family members of labour immigrants 9,679 9,625 9,698 10,023 8,628

Self-employed 350 300 233 306 174

Visiting researchers 1,219 1,129 1,126 1,083 907

Work in Sweden under special rules 1,356 1,889 1,992 1,797 2,015

Total 29,615 28,917 25,570 26,998 24,709


Since 2008, Sweden has pursued a liberal and demand-driven approach to immigra-tion of third country nationals for employment purposes. With the 2008 reform, the previous agency-based labour market test was phased out. Since then, the overall point of departure has been that it is the individual employer who best knows the recruitment needs of his or her business. The possibility to recruit foreign workers has been significantly facilitated. Provided that the working conditions are in line with Swedish collective agreements or established practice and that certain additional con-ditions are met, the employer can in principle recruit anyone, regardless of nationality or profession. The existing rules also provide opportunities for migrants to get a per-manent residence status after four years of stay with a work permit in Sweden.

18 Migrationsverket (2015): Admitting third-country nationals for business purposes: Sweden, Report from EMN Sweden 2014:4. Norrköping.


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Table 3 shows the ten main occupational categories among incoming workers from third countries in 2015 and 2016. These figures are based on the number of work permits granted. There are certain differences between the number of immigrants who have received a residence permit for work reasons as employees (12,985 in 2016, as mentioned above) and the number of work permits issued (12,526). The main reason for this is that in some cases, an immigrant will need a work permit to work in Sweden, but not a residence permit, while in other cases, a residence permit is needed, but the person is exempted from the requirement to have a work permit.

A notable change regarding the main occupational groups among labour immi-grants between 2015 and 2016 is that the number of incoming workers in occupa-tions requiring a high level of skills has tended to increase, while the number of new workers in low-skill jobs has decreased, with few exceptions. IT architects, systems analysts, and test managers represented the most frequent category of all occupa-tional groups in 2016, and the number of engineers has increased as well. The trend towards more a highly skilled immigration has been going on for several years now. It can be understood as a result of stricter requirements for employers who recruit workers for low-skilled occupations. Another factor is that Sweden has received many asylum seekers in recent years. They often look for jobs with low qualification requirements; hence the need for employers to recruit such workers from abroad may have declined.

Table 3: Work permits granted to workers from abroad, 2015 and 2016, main occupational groups

Area of work 2015 2016

IT architects, systems analysts, and test managers 3,252 3,737

Berry pickers and planters 3,784 3,199

Engineering professionals 709 790

Cooks and cold-buffet managers 664 532

Fast-food workers, food preparation assistants 528 397

Physical and engineering science technicians 314 335

Nursing auxiliaries, custodians, and personal assistants 191 234

Vehicle mechanics and repairers 177 201

Cleaners and home service personnel 190 192

Primary school teachers, recreation instructors, and early childhood teachers 158 158

Others 3,346 2,751

Total 13,313 12,526


The most common nationality groups engaging in labour market-related migration to Sweden in 2016 were India (6,818), Thailand (3,616), and China (1,689). These three countries have been the most relevant ones in the context of labour immigra-tion to Sweden over many years, with Indian nationals often working in the IT sector and Thai nationals in the seasonal berry-picking business. Work-related immigration from India has increased steadily over the five-year period from 2012 to 2016, while the number of Thai workers has fluctuated. Regarding Chinese labour immigrants, there has recently been a decrease.


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Table 4: Labour immigrants (including family members), 2012–2016, top-10 nationalities

Nationality 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

India 4,643 5,132 5,572 5,894 6,818

Thailand 5,860 6,517 3,062 4,341 3,616

China 2,125 2,004 2,151 1,868 1,689

Iraq 980 751 728 1,521 982

USA 1,213 1,201 1,181 1,211 924

Ukraine 918 749 833 931 845

Turkey 1,203 840 912 825 690

Brazil 243 259 340 514 619

Russia 696 543 560 520 619

Iran 1,208 998 744 672 513


Controlandverificationmeasurestopreventexploitation

In recent years, the current Swedish system for labour immigration has often been criticised for not sufficiently preventing untrustworthy employers to exploit foreign workers. The Swedish Migration Agency has therefore been applying stricter control measures for work permit applications within certain sectors of the economy (such as the cleaning business, hotels and restaurants, service, construction, staffing, com-merce, agriculture and forestry, and the automobile repair sectors) the since Janu-ary 2012. Since 2014, the Migration Agency has had a mandate to conduct follow-up checks and revoke residence permits if the conditions of the work permit (e.g. the requirements concerning the terms of employment) are no longer met or if the employment does not begin within four months after the issuing of the permit.

Also in 2015 and 2016, the work on combatting exploitation and wage-dumping has continued. In 2015, the Swedish Government appointed a committee on labour migra-tion, aimed at improving the situation of labour migrants in Sweden. In December 2016, the published its final report and made a number of policy suggestions.19 Among other issues, it suggested additional sanctions against employers who intentionally do not abide by the laws regulating the employment of third country nationals.

3.2 Internationalstudentsandvisitingresearchers

Third-countrynationalstudents

The entry and stay of international students from third countries has been an impor-tant channel of legal migration to Sweden. Migration for study reasons is seen posi-tively, not least because international students contribute to the internationalisation of the Swedish higher education system and help to make Sweden known abroad.

19 Statens Offentliga Utredningar (2016): Stärkt ställning för arbetskraftsinvandrare på arbetsmarknaden - Betänkande av Utredningen om åtgärder för att stärka arbetskraftsinvandrares ställning på arbetsmarknaden. SOU 2016:91, Stockholm.


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Between 2005 and 2010, study-related immigration increased strongly and steadily. In 2011, the number of third-country nationals who were granted residence permits for study reasons fell sharply, mainly due to the introduction of tuition fees. Since 2012, however, the numbers have been rising again. In 2015, 10,758 residence per-mits were granted, and 10,896 in 2016. Despite the recent increase, these are still modest numbers, compared to 2010, when over 14,000 such permits were issued.

Figure 3: First-time residence permits granted for study reasons (including accompanying family members), 2009–2016

2015201420132009 2010 2011 2012 2016

16,000

14,000

12,000

10,000

8,000

6,000

4,000

2,000

0

Source: Swedish Migration Agency. These figures do not include family members of international students, but they do include doctoral students.

13,487

14,188

6,8367,707

8,503

10,604 10,758 10,896

As Table 5 shows, the by far most important nationality group among international students in Sweden over the past five years has been Chinese. The second and third largest nationalities in 2016 were India and Pakistan.

Table 5: First-time residence permits granted for study reasons, top-10 nationality groups, 2012–2016

Nationality 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

China 1,665 1,803 2,033 2,262 2,274

India 390 636 909 991 1,211

Pakistan 332 383 631 933 843

USA 412 510 723 634 681

Iran 449 493 626 529 562

Canada 348 348 375 392 391

Singapore 316 350 384 386 356

Australia 357 311 348 309 351

Bangladesh 129 156 298 327 346

South Korea 299 285 326 364 306

Other 3,010 3,228 3,951 3,631 3,575

Total 7,707 8,503 10,604 10,758 10,896



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Possibilities for international students to remain in Sweden to look for work

There was an important policy change regarding international students in 2014, which started having some impact in 2015. Students who have carried out studies at a Swedish higher education institution for at least two terms can now receive a resi-dence permit for the purpose of looking for employment or investigating opportunities to start a business. According to a provision in the Aliens Ordinance, this permit can be valid for a maximum of six months. Previously, international students were only allowed to stay in Sweden when they had found work already during their studies in the country and applied for a residence permit for work reasons before the study-related permit expired. Since this amendment took effect, a total of 901 third country nationals who previously had a residence permit for studies in Sweden received a new residence permit to stay and look for work. 122 such permits were granted in 2014, 334 in 2015, and 445 in 2016, so there is an increasing trend.

Researchers

In addition to international students, Sweden also admits researchers under the EU Researchers’ Directive.20 Their number reached a relatively high level in 2012 but has been declining since. In 2015, 1,083 researchers from third countries were granted a residence permit, and 907 in 2016. The main citizenships of researchers coming to Sweden in 2015 were China (245), India (97), USA (80), Iran (59), and Russia (45).

Figure 4: First-time residence permits granted to researchers, 2009–2016

2015201420132009 2010 2011 2012 2016

1,400

1,200

1,000

800

600

400

200

0Source: Swedish Migration Agency

933

883 870

1,219

1,129 1,1261,083

907

3.3 Familyreunification

In Sweden, as in many other EU member states, immigration on the basis of family ties accounts for a large share of the overall immigration flows. If we look at permits granted for family reunification, family formation, adoptions as well as accompanying family members of labour immigrants or incoming foreign students, family-related migration accounts for almost 35% of all residence permits granted by Sweden in 2016. This percentage was 40% in 2015 and 38% in 2014.

20 Council Directive 2005/71/EC of 12 October 2005 on a specific procedure for admitting third-country nationals for the purposes of scientific research.


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A particular feature regarding family-related immigration to Sweden is that unmar-ried partners enjoy the same rights as married couples as far as the granting of a residence permit for family reunification is concerned. This is also true for same-sex couples. An unmarried partner who has co-habited with the sponsor in the home country, and can prove this, has the same right to family reunification as a spouse. Persons arriving for the purpose of family reunification have the right to receive lan-guage tuition (Swedish for Immigrants), and municipalities are obliged to offer social orientation and may also extend other introduction activities to this group. The Swed-ish immigration rules for third country national workers and international students are family-friendly, as well, as they may bring members of their core families to Sweden.

Stricterfinancialsupportrequirementsforfamilyreunification

In 2010, a financial support requirement was introduced in the Aliens Act as a con-dition for family reunification. According to this requirement, the sponsor (i.e. the person that wants a person residing abroad to join him/her) has to show sufficient income to support himself/herself. He/she also needs to have suitable accommo-dation for the family members who want to settle in Sweden. There were several exemptions from this requirement, however, for instance, when the sponsor is a refu-gee or a beneficiary of subsidiary protection, or when the sponsor has spent at least four years in Sweden with a permanent residence permit, when he/she is a Swedish or EU national, or where there are other special reasons.

In 2015, the Government announced its intention to introduce tougher maintenance requirements, also in response to the increased number of refugees coming to Swe-den that year. Until 2016, sponsors only needed to prove that they could support themselves. On 20 July 2016, a new temporary law restricting the possibility of being granted a residence permit for protection purposes in Sweden, and the right to family reunification, entered into force. It will be valid until 19 July 2019. Regarding mainte-nance requirements, the temporary law demands that the sponsor must not only be able to support him-/herself but also his or her family members.21

Norighttofamilyreunificationforbeneficiariesofsubsidiaryprotection

Apart from that, the temporary law also states that refugees and persons eligible for subsidiary protection in Sweden will be granted temporary residence permits instead of permanent permits (which is the main rule under the Aliens Act). Refugees who are granted temporary residence permits under the temporary law and who are deemed to have well-grounded prospects of obtaining a permanent residence permit will continue to have a right to family reunification with their spouse, cohabitant and/or minor children, and children who are refugees will have a right to reunification with their parents. A beneficiary of subsidiary protection who submitted his/her asylum application after 24 November 2015 has no right to family reunification.

Statistical trends in 2016

In 2016, the Swedish Migration Agency and the Swedish missions abroad granted 39,027 first-time residence permits for family reunification and family formation pur-poses. This means an increase by just under 5% compared to 2015, when 37,279 such permits were granted. These numbers include family reunification and fam-ily formation in general, family members of refugees and other persons in need of

21 The maintenance requirement will not apply, however, if the sponsor is a child. In addition, family members of beneficiaries of international protection are also exempt from the maintenance requirement if the family member applies for family reunification within three months of the date when the beneficiary of protection obtained his/her residence permit.


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protection, adopted children, and children of third-country nationals with permanent residence status in Sweden. Conversely, accompanying family members of labour immigrants or foreign students and third-country nationals who were granted a resi-dence permit as family members of EU citizens or persons with long-term residence rights in other EU Member States are not included. All categories are however shown separately in Table 6.

As a result of the above-mentioned temporary law, the percentage of applications for family reunification that are rejected increased in 2016, compared to 2015. The refusal rate increased even further during the first months of 2017. This indicates that without the temporary law, immigration to Sweden on the basis of family rea-sons would have increased much more than it did in reality.

Table 6: First-time residence permits granted for family reasons, main categories, 2012–2016

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Adoptions 283 243 221 155 129

Family members of refugees and other beneficiaries of protection 7,897 10,673 13,100 16,251 15,148

Family reunification and family formation in general 22,682 18,541 18,079 15,637 16,472

Children (of foreign parents) born in Sweden 4,845 4,577 4,565 5,236 7,278

Total 35,707 34,034 35,965 37,279 39,027

Family members of labour immigrants 9,679 9,625 9,698 10,023 8,628

Family members of international students 615 944 1,337 1,348 1,425

Family members of third-country nationals with long-term resident status in other EU Member States 290 516 606 740 1,184

Third-country nationals who are family members of EU/EEA citizens or Swiss citizens 1,271 1,215 908 985 1,672

Grand Total 47,562 46,334 48,514 50,375 51,936


The most frequent nationality groups among the persons immigrating for family rea-sons22 in 2016 were Syria, Somalia, stateless persons, Eritrea and Iraq. The increase regarding Syrian nationals who were granted residence permits for family reasons is certainly remarkable; but it is a logical consequence of the many Syrians coming to Sweden as asylum seekers. Regarding family-related migration from Somalia and Iraq, there has been a decrease over the years, please see Table 7 on next page.

22 Excluding family members of labour immigrants, of international students, of third-country nationals with long-term resident status in other EU Member States and of EU/EEA citizens or Swiss citizens


27

Table 7: First-time residence permits granted for family reasons, top-10 nationality groups, 2012–2016

Nationality 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Syria 509 1,105 5,923 10,130 10,221

Somalia 5,464 8,016 3,483 2,860 2,595

Stateless 1,217 1,557 3,150 2,600 2,498

Eritrea 1,178 1,033 1,455 1,537 2,406

Iraq 2,801 1,754 1,651 1,474 1,460

Unknown 1,270 1,129 968 1,579 1,454

Thailand 2,148 1,806 1,543 1,181 1,406

Afghanistan 1,640 1,773 2,015 1,753 1,372

China 918 665 702 790 769

Turkey 957 700 779 687 756

Other 17,605 14,496 14,296 12,688 14,090

Total 35,707 34,034 35,965 37,279 39,027


3.4 Citizenshipandnaturalisation

Policychanges

Regarding the acquisition of Swedish citizenship, no major political developments can be reported for 2016, and the Swedish Citizenship Act remained unchanged during that year. The latest changes to this Act came into force in April 2015. Among other provisions, this reform facilitated the automatic acquisition of Swedish citizenship at birth (so that a child now always acquires Swedish citizenship at birth if one of the child’s parents is a Swedish citizen), and shortened the minimum requirements for period of domicile and permanent residence in Sweden for children and young people to be able to become Swedish citizens.

Statistical trends

In 2016, the Swedish Migration Agency received 42,632 applications for naturaliza-tion, which represents an increase by 11% compared to 2015, when 38,333 applica-tions were received. 35,832 cases were decided during 2016, and the share of posi-tive decisions was 86%. This means that around 30,800 immigrants became Swedish nationals by naturalization.

The number of people who acquired Swedish citizenship by registration, which is a simplified procedure for certain groups of immigrants, increased from roughly 6,300 in 2015 to 16,000 in 2016. This strong increase regarding registrations can be seen as a result of increased immigration to Sweden, but also of the reform of the Citizenship Act in 2015, which made the acquisition of Swedish citizenship by registration easier.

The largest groups among those who applied for Swedish citizenship in 2016 were immigrants from Somalia (9,715), Syria (6,775), stateless persons (5,270) as well as immigrants from Iraq (3,704) and Afghanistan (3,545). Many people from these countries came to Sweden as asylum seekers during recent years, and were granted residence permits. Most immigrants can become Swedish citizens after five years of legal residence, but for persons with refugee status and stateless people four years are sufficient.


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As a result of the strongly increasing number of asylum applicants in 2014 and 2015, of which many were granted protection, the Swedish Migration Agency anticipates that the number of people applying for Swedish citizenship will increase during the years to come. According to the Agency’s latest operational forecast, the number of applications for Swedish citizenship increase from roughly 71,000 in 2017 to 100,000 in 2021.23

3.5 VisaPolicyandSchengenco-operation

Regarding the issuing of short-term visas for third-country nationals who want to visit Sweden for a limited time for tourism purposes, visiting family members or business activities, there were no significant new developments in 2016. Sweden issues visas in full accordance with the EU visa code, and Schengen visas are registered in the Visa Information System (VIS).

Sweden issued 197,347 Schengen visas (mostly type-C visas) in 2016, which rep-resents a strong increase compared to 2015, when 170,654 Schengen visas were granted. The increase is mainly due to a rising number of incoming tourists that are subject to visa requirements. In addition to Schengen visas, 4,735 national (type-D) visas were granted, which represents a small decrease compared to 2015, when 5,543 such visas were issued. Type-C visas allow the holder a stay of up to 90 days within a period of 6 months for purposes such as tourism, family visits or business. National visas are used, for example, when the reason for travelling to Sweden does not correspond to any of the purposes outlined in the EU Visa Code, or when a for-eign national wishes to stay in Sweden for more than 90 days.

Most visas in 2016 were granted for tourism purposes or transit through Sweden 82,302 (roughly 55,350 in 2015), visits to family members 51,612 (49,500 in 2015), and business purposes 44,051 (45,700 in 2015). Most visas were issued to Chinese (almost 75,000), Russian (21,000), and Indian (19,000) travelers.

Schengenborders

On several occasions throughout the year 2016, the Swedish Government decided to prolong the temporary controls at Sweden’s internal Schengen borders. They were originally introduced in November 2015, in response to the extraordinary asylum situ-ation at the time, which according to the Government posed acute challenges to vital functions of society.

23 Migrationsverket (2017), Verksamhets- och utgiftsprognos 2017-07-26, p. 65.


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4 International protection including asylum

After the extraordinary asylum situation in Sweden in 2015, the year 2016 was on the one hand marked by a drastic reduction in the number of new asylum appli-cants arriving in Sweden, and on the other hand by huge pressures on the Swedish Migration Agency and other actors to process the applications of the almost 163,000 people that had applied during 2015. While Sweden only registered 28,939 new appli-cants in 2016, which means a decrease by more than 82% compared to 2015, the number of decisions on asylum cases reached the record-breaking level of 111,979 (compared to 58,802 in 2015).

Newlegislationtoreducethenumberofasylumseekers

Reacting to the refugee situation in 2015, the Swedish government prepared new legislation and a number of changes to the Swedish Aliens Act in late 2015 and 2016, which were eventually adopted by the Parliament and subsequently entered into force.

Regarding access to the asylum procedure, a temporary ordinance became effective on 4 January 2016, introducing extraterritorial ID-checks on travellers on public transportation (busses, trains and boats) from Denmark. This meant that persons without ID-documents were prevented from travelling to Sweden from Denmark using public transport. During 2016, the ordinance on ID-checks was prolonged three times. By the end of 2016, the measure was still in place.24 The checks are performed by the respective carriers.

On several occasions throughout the year 2016, the Government also decided to pro-long the temporary controls at Sweden’s Schengen borders. These checks were origi-nally introduced in November 2015, in response to the extraordinary refugee situa-tion at the time, which according to the Government posed acute challenges to vital functions of society. Asylum seekers may however apply for asylum at the border.

A new temporary law restricting the possibility of being granted a residence permit for protection purposes in Sweden, and the right to family reunification, entered into force on 20 July 2016.25 The law is in force until 19 July 2019 and aims to temporar-ily adapt the Swedish asylum regulations to the minimum level according to the EU-acquis. Once the law expires, the corresponding provisions in the Swedish Aliens Act26 will automatically be applicable again.

Unlike the Aliens Act, which provides for permanent residence permits, the tempo-rary law demands that beneficiaries of international protection are granted temporary permits. Refugees are now granted permits for three years and beneficiaries of sub-sidiary (“alternative”) protection for 13 months. If a beneficiary of protection still has grounds for protection when their first residence permit expires, they can be granted

24 It was ended in May 2017.

25 Lag (2016:752) om tillfälliga begränsningar av möjligheten att få uppehållstillstånd i Sverige.

26 Utlänningslag (2005:716).


30

an extension. If the person can support him/herself, they can be granted a perma-nent permit.27

Further to this, the temporary law also limited the possibility of being granted a resi-dence permit for humanitarian reasons (“particularly distressing circumstances”). As a result of the temporary law, this national humanitarian status can now only be granted to children and families with children who applied for asylum on or before 24 November 2015, provided that the child in question is still under 18 years old when the decision is made.

As descried further below in the Section on “Return”, a person who has applied for asylum and received a refusal of entry or expulsion order is, since 1 June 2016, no longer entitled to accommodation and daily allowance from the Swedish Migration Agency. The new rules apply to adults who are not living with, and are the custodians of, children under the age of 18. They also apply to anyone who received a refusal of entry or expulsion order before 1 June 2016.

Standards for asylum procedures

In May 2015, the Migration Agency implemented a new standard for processing asy-lum applications, which was further developed in 2016. As a part of the new stan-dard, the initial step of the asylum process that starts with the registration of an application has become more rigorous, especially concerning the initial interview. The objective is to screen asylum applications and to determine the necessary steps ahead as early in the process as possible, which shall lead to a more effective and judicially secure process. The new standard means that the Migration Agency, to a higher degree than before, individualizes the asylum process in accordance with the specificities of each application.

Information for asylum seekers

The Swedish Migration Agency has during the year further developed the way an asylum seeker can receive information about the asylum process and his/her rights and obligations in the process. New instructions regarding the provision of informa-tion during the entire asylum process are scheduled to be finalized in the beginning of 2017. There have not been any changes concerning access to legal counselling/repre-sentation under 2016. However, since 1 January 2017, the Swedish Aliens Act explic-itly demands that unaccompanied children who apply for asylum are always granted a legal counsellor. This change of the law confirmed an already existing practice in Sweden, which however was not regulated by law.

4.1 Applications for international protection and asylum procedures

Throughout recent years, Sweden has been one of the principal destination countries for asylum seekers within the European Union. In 2015, almost 163,000 applications were registered in Sweden, an increase by more than 100% compared to 2014. In 2016, the number of new asylum seekers decreased strongly, by 82%, to 28,939 new applicants.

27 The temporary law is not applicable if the applicant is a child or a grown-up who is part of the same family as the child and the asylum application was registered on 24 November 2015 or earlier


31

Figure 5: Asylum seekers, 2007–2016

2015201420132007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2016

180,000

160,000

140,000

120,000

100,000

80,000

60,000

40,000

20,000


36,20724,353

24,194

31,819

29,64843,887

54,259

81,301

162,877

28,939

There is certainly no single explanation for the notable decrease in the number of asylum seekers in 2016. Border closures in Southern, South-Eastern and Central Europe, the agreement between the EU and Turkey to stop irregular migration flows from Turkey to Greece, restrictive policy turns in various EU Member States may have contributed to this development, alongside the various Swedish policy changes which included ID-checks on travellers from Denmark, temporary intra-Schengen border controls and measures to make Sweden less attractive as a destination country.

Syria was the single largest country of origin of asylum seekers during the year 2016 (5,457 applicants), as in the previous year, followed by Afghan asylum seekers (2,969). The third biggest group were people from Iraq (2,755), followed by people from Somalia and stateless people. However, all of the ten most relevant citizenship groups decreased in 2016, compared to 2015, with the exception of Turkey. Turkey and Georgia had not been among the ten most relevant groups in 2015. Table 8 and Figure 6 below display the main countries of origin of asylum seekers for the year 2016, compared to 2015.

Table 8: Asylum seekers, main nationality groups, 2015–2016

Citizenship 2015 2016 Change%

Syria 51,338 5,457 –89

Afghanistan 41,564 2,969 –93

Iraq 20,858 2,755 –87

Somalia 5,465 1,646 –70

Stateless 7,716 1,323 –83

Iran 4,560 1,279 –72

Eritrea 7,233 1,151 –84

Albania 2,615 785 –70

Turkey 253 738 +192

Georgia 891 737 –17

Other 20,384 10,099 –50

Total 162,877 28,939 –82



32

Figure 6: Asylum seekers, main nationality groups, 2015–2016

Turke

y

Albania

Eritre

aIra

n

Statele

ss

SomaliaIra

q

Afghan

istan

Syria

Georgi

a

60,000

50,000

40,000

30,000

20,000

10,000


2015

2016

Common European Asylum System

In 2016, the revised Asylum Procedures Directive28 was implemented in Sweden. The respective legal changes came into force on 1 January 2016 and included more specific rules regarding manifestly unfounded asylum applications, rules regarding the right to remain until a court has ruled on inhibition during the appeal of clearly unfounded decisions (and of subsequent applications), and explicit rules (confirming earlier practice) providing that unaccompanied children always have a right to legal representation in the asylum procedure and when a new procedure is initiated after a subsequent application.

Relocation of asylum seekers

On 9 June 2016, the Council decided that the obligations of Sweden as a Member State of relocation under the decisions (EU) 2015/15232429 and (EU) 2015/16012530 shall be suspended until 16 June 2017. Consequently, Sweden did not receive any relocated asylum seekers from Greece or Italy in 2016. In July 2016, however, Swe-den presented a roadmap to the Council and to the Commission, setting out the mea-sures that it will take in order to ensure the effectiveness of its asylum and migration system and to resume its obligations under the above-mentioned emergency reloca-tion system, once the suspension ceases to have effect. In accordance with this road-map, relocations to Sweden started in June 2017.

4.2 Reception of asylum applicants

The Swedish reception system for asylum seekers is managed by the Migration Agen-cy. While an asylum application is under consideration, the applicant is enrolled at a

28 Directive 2013/32/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on common procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection.

29 Council Decision (EU) 2015/1523 of 14 September 2015 establishing provisional measures in the area of international protection for the benefit of Italy and of Greece.

30 Council Decision (EU) 2015/1601 of 22 September 2015 establishing provisional measures in the area of international protection for the benefit of Italy and Greece.


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reception unit, which will help him/her with accommodation and expenses during the waiting period.

There are two different standard types of accommodation:

• In many cases, accommodation is provided by the Migration Agency in an apart-ment in a normal housing area, rented by the Migration Agency anywhere in the country, or at a reception centre. The asylum applicants may apply for daily allow-ances if they cannot support themselves. Urgent medical care is provided to all applicants. Families stay together and usually do not share a flat with other asy-lum applicants.

• As an alternative to stay in accommodation provided by the Migration Agency, an asylum seeker also has the possibility to arrange his/her own accommodation. Since applicants usually do not have the financial means to pay the rent for a flat, they often stay with friends or relatives in such cases. Asylum seekers that choose to reside with friends or family members receive a financial allowance similar to the financial allowance of those staying in accommodation provided by the Migra-tion Agency. An asylum seeker who chooses to stay with friends and relatives can at any time ask to be accommodated by the Swedish Migration Agency instead.

By the end of 2016, a total of 122,708 people were enrolled in the Swedish recep-tion system for asylum seekers, which is an decrease by 33% compared to 2015, when 181,890 persons were enrolled. In 2016, 35,449 (29%) of the asylum seekers enrolled in the system had arranged their own accommodation, and 63,063 (51%) relied on accommodation provided by the Migration Agency. The remaining 20% were accommodated in other, specialised facilities.31

During the autumn of 2015, the need for accommodation had increased dramatically due to the strongly rising number of incoming asylum applicants. At times, the need for accommodation exceeded the Migration Agency’s capacity. In 2016, following a decrease in the number of new asylum applicants coming to Sweden and the finaliza-tion of the asylum procedures of many asylum seekers that that had arrived in 2015, the situation gradually became more relaxed. The Migration Agency started to close down some reception facilities that had been used as emergency reception centres during the extraordinary refugee situation of 2015.

During the year 2016, special safety houses were established near the largest cities in Sweden. The safety houses are dedicated to asylum applicants with special needs that cannot be satisfied within ordinary reception facilities and with the ordinary sup-port by staff from the Migration Agency. Asylum seekers, who under certain circum-stances might need placement in a special safety house, are minors, women, people with disabilities, people with physical or psychological illnesses or people that run a risk of being harassed due to their sexual orientation or gender identity, and elderly asylum seekers. Victims of torture or rape can also be eligible for special placement.

4.3 Asylum decisions

In 2016, the Swedish Migration Agency made first-instance decisions on 111,979 asylum applications, almost twice as many as in 2015, when 58,802 decisions were taken. This strong increase was due to the extraordinary number of asylum seekers that came to Sweden in 2015.

31 Asylum seekers placed in specialised facilities include unaccompanied minors that are placed in child care facilities or family homes, and asylum seekers that are placed in health care facilities or police arrests.


34

In 67,258 cases (60%), the decision was positive, which means that a residence per-mit was granted. The protection rate was five percentage points higher than in 2015, when 55% of all decisions were positive. The comparatively high protection rate is mainly due to the fact that many decisions concerned asylum seekers from Syria, Eritrea, or from stateless persons. These applicants have long had rather high protec-tion rates due to the situation in their countries or regions of origin. If asylum appli-cations by people who were to be taken over by another Member State in accordance with the Dublin regulation and applications that for various reasons were written off are excluded from the calculation of the share of positive decisions, the protection rate would have been even higher than 60%, roughly 77%.

16,872 people who received a positive decision were granted refugee status (25% of all those granted protection), while 47,219 received subsidiary protection (70%). Compared to the previous year, the share of refugee status among all positive deci-sions declined (from 39%) while the share of subsidiary protection increased (from 56%). In addition to refugee status and subsidiary protection, a smaller number of persons (1,863 or 3%) were granted humanitarian statuses due to “particularly distressing circumstances”, and a further 1,304 (2%) persons received a permit on other, exceptional humanitarian grounds, or as a result of impediments to the enforcement of return obligations. It is worth noting that while, until June 2016, it had not mattered much for asylum applicants (in terms of the length of their stay and family reunification rights) whether they were granted protection as refugees or for subsidiary or humanitarian protection, there is now a major difference between these statuses. As a result of the above mentioned temporary act, refugees are granted a (renewable) residence permit for three years, while subsidiary protection beneficia-ries only receive a permit for 13 months. Before the temporary act took effect, both groups were normally granted permanent permits. Moreover, under the temporary act, subsidiary protection beneficiaries are in most cases excluded from the right to be joined by family members.

Table 9 below shows the distribution of positive and negative decisions for the ten quantitatively most important citizenship groups in 2016. Among these ten nationali-ties, Syrian and Eritrean nationals had the highest proportion of positive decisions, 91%. If one excludes cases in which the Swedish Migration Agency did not consider the application materially, for example due to the responsibility of another European country for the examination of the application (“Dublin cases”), then almost 100% of all Syrian applicants and 99% of all Eritrean applicants were granted protec-tion. Another important nationality group with a high share of positive decisions was stateless asylum seekers (83%). These are often Palestinians. By way of contrast, citizens of Ukraine and Mongolia were in almost all cases not found to be in need of protection.


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Table 9: First-instance decisions in asylum cases, main nationality groups, 2016

Citizenship

Total number of decisions Positive

Negative(after

material consider-

ation)Negative

(Dublin)*Negative (other)**

Proportion positive

decisions of all

decisions

Syria 48,594 44,218 140 2,389 1,847 91%

Afghanistan 12,168 3,464 4,152 2,111 2,441 28%

Iraq 10,135 1,745 2,130 1,591 4,669 17%

Stateless 6,999 5,833 341 460 365 83%

Eritrea 6,600 5,995 46 344 215 91%

Somalia 3,885 1,723 1,205 554 403 44%

Iran 2,306 678 444 422 762 29%

Ukraine 1,720 65 1,256 171 228 4%

Mongolia 1,428 66 1,187 87 88 5%

Ethiopia 1,298 662 456 107 73 51%

Other 16,846 2,809 8,312 2,518 3,207 17%

Total 111,979 67,258 19,669 10,754 14,298 60%

* “Negative (Dublin)” means that the asylum examination is to be taken over by another State within the framework of the Dublin Regulation.

** “Negative (other)” means that the Swedish Migration Agency has not considered the case materially because the application was written of. An application will be written off, among other reasons, if the applicant absconds or withdraws his/her application.

Source: Swedish Migration Agency.

Dublin procedures

The number of asylum cases handled under the Dublin Regulation had increased strongly between 2014 and 2015 (from roughly 9,700 to 17,000 cases) but then decreased substantially, to only 5,003 cases in 2016. The main reason for this is the overall much lower number of asylum applicants coming to Sweden that year. By way of contrast, the number of Dublin cases that were decided increased from 5,790 in 2015 to 9,901 in 2016, which is a result of a backlog that was built up during 2015. This backlog also meant that the average time asylum applicants spent in the Swed-ish reception system before they were eventually transferred to other Member States increased from 174 days in 2015 to 204 days in 2016.

The Migration Agency made 12,118 “take back” or “take charge” requests to other Dublin states, the majority of which were directed to Germany, Hungary and Italy. The number of transfers was 5,244, and Germany was the main destination of trans-fers from Sweden with almost 3,700 cases. The number of requests that Sweden received from other countries was 5,582, with most requests coming from Germany, Denmark and Austria.32

In 2016, the Swedish Migration Agency suspended all Dublin transfers to Hungary for a certain period of time, awaiting a ruling from the Swedish Migration Court of Appeal. After the ruling, transfers to Hungary started again, but in many cases the time frame to carry out a transfer had run out and Sweden therefore had to assume responsibility.

32 See http://www.asylumineurope.org/reports/country/sweden/asylum-procedure/procedures/dublin for more details.


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4.4 Integrationofpersonswhoaregrantedprotection

In 2016, 68,761 persons that had been granted a residence permit left the reception system for asylum seekers and were settled in a Swedish municipality, around 34% more than in 2015 (51,197). These figures includes asylum seekers that were grant-ed protection, persons that were taken to Sweden under the Swedish resettlement programme, and family members of beneficiaries of international and humanitarian protection.

Since the settlement process represents a challenge for many Swedish municipali-ties, especially as a result of the high number of newly arrived refugees during recent years, the Government made efforts to improve the integration process for refugees and other newly-arrived migrants. On 1 March 2016, a new act for an effective and solidarity-based refugee reception system entered into force in Sweden. It foresees that all municipalities within Sweden can be required to receive newly-arrived refu-gees and other beneficiaries of protection, as well as their family members, for settle-ment. According to the law, the assignment of such persons to municipalities shall be based on each municipality’s local labour market, its population size and the overall number of newly arrived immigrants, unaccompanied minors and asylum seekers already living in the municipality. Previously, the settlement of beneficiaries of protec-tion was optional for municipalities, but this had created an unequal distribution of new arrivals across Sweden. The new law represents a challenge for many municipali-ties, especially those that suffer from housing shortages.

The new law also means that the task of allocating recognized beneficiaries of protec-tion to municipalities was transferred from the Swedish Employment Service to the Migration Agency as of 1 January 2017. The Swedish Government decides how many beneficiaries of protection each Swedish county will have to accept. The 21 County Administrative Boards then decide how to distribute the beneficiaries of protection among the municipalities within their respective jurisdictions. In accordance with the new law, the County Administrative Boards are also responsible for providing suffi-cient capacities for the settlement of beneficiaries of protection, and they shall facili-tate cooperation among municipalities within each region and follow-up on integration measures at regional and local level. Even under the new law, however, beneficiaries of protection may choose to arrange their own housing and decide by themselves where within Sweden to settle.

The Government also continued to monitor the Introduction Act of 2010 and to ensure its effective implementation. Improving the integration of newly arrived beneficiaries of protection, in particular with regard to labour market integration, language acquisi-tion and newly arrived students’ and pupils’ achievements in the education system, was a priority in 2016. The following initiatives were launched, continued or stepped up in 2016.

Education

• The Government announced continued initiatives to alleviate the teacher shortage in Sweden and improve the conditions for highly challenged schools. As the num-ber of pupils has been increasing as a result of the high number of refugee arrivals in Sweden, schools will receive additional resources.

• The National Agency for Education was tasked with providing support to schools and municipalities to improve the quality of education for newly arrived students. The overall purpose is to improve the students’ performance. There are general measures, such as in-service-training and professional development for teachers, staff in schools, head teachers, and school organizers. Some measures target specific school organizers.


37

• On 1 January 2016, a new regulation entered into force, which foresees an obliga-tory mapping/assessment of newly arrived students’ knowledge and previous edu-cation. It also prescribes regulations on the organizational form of ‘introductory classes’ and on the number of teaching hours for newly arrived students.

Language acquisition

• In August 2015, the Government had introduced a new language acquisition initia-tive, called “Swedish from day one”. Under this initiative, funds are made avail-able for study associations to provide, for example, courses in Swedish to asylum seekers and people who have already been granted a residence permit but still live in accommodation for asylum seekers provided by the Swedish Migration Agency. Since mid-August 2016, folk high schools can take part in the “Swedish from day one” programme.

Migrants’accesstosocialsecurity,healthcareandjobs

• In 2016, the Government allocated SEK 1,5 billion to the Swedish county councils to increase their capacity for healthcare for asylum seekers and refugees. Additional funding of SEK 10 billion a year are since 2016 allocated to municipalities and coun-ty councils through general government grants for healthcare and social security.

• In the budget bill for 2017, the Government announced increased funding for specialized care for victims of war and torture.

• Since 2015, the Government, the social partners and the Public Employment Service have been working on establishing “fast tracks” to labour market entry. The aim is to create more rapid ways into the labour market for newly arrived immigrants with education or skills in shortage occupations. In 2016, a number of new fast tracks were created, and at the time of writing this report, there were fast tracks into about 20 professions.

• In the Budget Bill for 2017, the Government directed more funds to increase the Public Employment Service’s capacities, in order to manage the increased number of new arrivals and improve the outcome of the introduction programme. It also proposed reforms to speed up the introduction of newly arrived immigrants. For example, initiatives were announced for early language learning and mapping of skills and experiences among asylum seekers, i.e. even before they are granted a residence permit. The allocated funds can be used by civil society organisations, or in some cases by municipalities, to offer various integration-related activities.

• In addition, to improve the introduction of newcomers into the labour market, the Government introduced a mapping of educational background and work experi-ence, which is offered by the Swedish Public Employment Service during the asylum-seeking period, i.e. before a residence permit might be granted. Consider-ing that Sweden faces labour shortages in several areas, especially in the welfare sector, the mapping of educational background and work experience is considered essential to facilitate labour matching. In addition, the target group for certain forms of subsidised employment was broadened, and the subsidy scheme for oth-ers were changed in order to increase their use, not least among new arrivals.

• Following up on measures adopted in 2015 and earlier, the Government committed an additional funding to activities by civil society and local governments aimed at creating better conditions for new arrivals to establish themselves in society. The extra funding can be directed to activities that aim to facilitate for new arrivals to establish themselves in the Swedish society, create networks, support language learning or provide social support to unaccompanied minors. Examples include


38

social activities, study circles, activities to support language learning, mentorship and activities of sports associations.

4.5 Resettlement

Apart from being a major destination for persons seeking asylum, Sweden also engages in resettlement. Resettlement is considered to be a way of sharing responsi-bility with countries hosting large groups of refugees and to safeguard access to asy-lum for people in need of protection. According to a cross-party agreement of 2015, Sweden will gradually increase the number of places in its resettlement programme to 5,000 during the present electoral term (2014–2018). In September 2016, the Government confirmed that Sweden would increase its annual resettlement pro-gramme by 1,500 additional places in 2017. This means that 3,400 persons in need of protection are anticipated to be resettled to Sweden in 2017. Contrary to benefi-ciaries of protection that have come to Sweden as asylum seekers, resettled refugees are still granted permanent residence permits.

Resettlement is regulated by the Aliens Act in which specific criteria are mentioned. The Act serves as the legal basis for resettlement selection and procedures. An annual spending authorization from the Swedish Parliament and an annual Govern-ment decision for the responsible authority, the Swedish Migration Agency, regulates the operation of the program. The Migration Agency decides on the allocation of the places within the resettlement quota in consultation with UNHCR and after consulta-tion with the Ministry of Justice.

The Swedish resettlement programme consists of two streams: dossier processing and selection missions. Residence permits are granted only to persons classified as refugees under the Aliens Act or as persons in need of subsidiary protection. Sweden resettles upon request from the UNHCR, and in exceptional cases from a Swedish embassy.

Resettlement to Sweden in 2016

In 2016, Sweden allocated 1,900 places for resettlement submissions, in accordance with its national quota. In total, 1,889 persons were granted a residence permit under the resettlement framework. The main nationalities were Syria (606), the Democratic Republic of Congo (332), Somalia (237), Afghanistan (182) and Eritrea (169). The number of Persons from the DR Congo and from Somalia has increased over the past three years, while the number of Syrians has decreased to some degree; please see Table 8 for details. To prepare quota refugees for settlement in Sweden, cultural orientation was carried out in the form of traditional programmes, lasting 1.5 days, and shorter information sessions.

Sweden experienced increased efficiency in finding placement in municipalities for resettled refugees in 2016 compared to the year before. This was mainly due to new national legislation entering into force in March 2016, instructing all municipalities to share the responsibility of receiving newly arrived immigrants, including resettled persons.


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Table 10: Resettlement, main nationalities 2014–2016

Citizenship

Number of persons

2014

Number of persons

2015

Number of persons

2016

Syria 714 686 606

DR Congo 226 231 332

Somalia 162 215 237

Afghanistan 328 161 182

Eritrea 229 160 169

Stateless 77 174 141

Ethiopia 20 102 108

Burundi 4 3 26

Sudan 8 43 12

Iran 8 5 11

Other 195 100 65

Total 1,971 1,880 1,889


Settlement of quota refugees in municipalities

Within Sweden, municipalities in the Stockholm metropolitan region received the largest number of refugees that were resettled to Sweden (192 persons in 2016), fol-lowed by Västerbotten (188), Västernorrland (186) and Jämtland (159). The Northern regions of Sweden, which are scarcely populated and often face depopulation, have traditionally been very active regarding the reception of resettled refugees. As a con-sequence of the above-mentioned new law for an effective and solidarity-based refu-gee reception system, which requires all municipalities to accept refugees for settle-ment, the distribution of resettled refugees across the country was somewhat more balanced in 2016 than in previous years.


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5 Unaccompanied minors

Reception and accommodation of unaccompanied minors

The number of unaccompanied minors (UAM) seeking asylum in Sweden has increased remarkably over recent years, especially in 2015, but then there was a massive drop in 2016; see Figure 7 below. While as many as 35,369 UAM applied for asylum in Sweden in 2015, their number was only 2,199 in 2016.

The asylum applications of UAM are dealt with exclusively at selected units within the Swedish Migration Agency, where case officers have specialist skills. In 2016, UAM accounted for 8% of all asylum seekers that came to Sweden in 2016. This percentage was 22% in 2015. In 2014 and 2013, the share of UAM was close to the one in 2016 (9% and 7% respectively), which means that the year 2015 was truly exceptional.

Figure 7: Unaccompanied minors applying for asylum in Sweden, 2009–2016

2015201420132009 2010 2011 2012 2016

40,000

35,000

30,000

25,000

20,000

15,000

10,000

5,000


2,250 2,393 2,657 3,578 3,852

7,049

35,369

2,199

Countries of origin and protection rate

In 2016, most UAM in Sweden came from Afghanistan (665), Somalia (421), Syria (180), Morocco (144) and Ethiopia (133).

As in previous years, UAM were more often granted protection than adult asylum seekers. Whereas the protection rate (at first instance) for all asylum seekers in 2016 was 60%, the protection rate for UAM was 72%. If cases in which the Swed-ish Migration Agency did not consider the application materially, for example due to the responsibility of another European country for the examination of the application (“Dublin cases”), are excluded, then the protection rate for UAM is 86%.

The majority of UAM in Sweden were boys (80% in 2016, compared to 92% in 2015), and most of them declared that they were between 13 and 17 years old; see Table 11 below for details.


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Table 11: Unaccompanied minors applying for asylum, age and gender, 2016

Age ranges Girls Boys Total

0–6 years 30 31 61

7–12 years 64 126 190

13–15 years 179 753 932

16–17 years 162 854 1,016

Total 435 1,764 2,199


Age assessments

Children have special rights under international and Swedish law. Where there is doubt as to whether an asylum seeker is a child or an adult, the Swedish Migration Agency must make an assessment of the person’s age in light of the evidence in the case. There are various methods – both medical and non-medical – that can be used to assess age, but none of them can precisely establish a person’s age if he or she does not have reliable identity documents, e.g. a national passport. In the asylum process, the burden of proof lies with the asylum seeker to plausibly demonstrate his or her account (regarding the need for protection) and identity (including age). This applies even to children and means that asylum seekers themselves are primarily responsible for providing relevant information to guide the assessment of their need for protection.

However, UAM often lack documents that can prove their age. The results of a medi-cal age assessment are one of several possible pieces of evidence that an applicant can use to fulfil the burden of proof with respect to age, and the results are evalu-ated alongside other evidence. The Migration Agency has an obligation to inform the child of the possibility to undergo a medical examination to establish his/her age. In other words, this is not an investigative method that the Swedish Migration Agency itself uses in order to come to a decision regarding the asylum application, but rather something that can be offered to the individual to help demonstrate his or her age. This provision is based on EU law, and the established ‘benefit of the doubt’ principle.

There are various methods of assessing age, and in April 2016 the Swedish Govern-ment decided that the National Board of Forensic Medicine in Sweden will carry out medical age assessments of UAM asylum seekers in cooperation with the Migration Agency. The methods used include examining the applicants’ teeth and knee joints. Examinations will be carried out with the consent of the applicant and his/her legal guardian. Medical age assessments in accordance with the new guidelines start in spring 2017.


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6 Trafficking in human beings

Trendsregardingtheidentificationoftraffickingvictims

In Sweden, any Police officer can report suspected cases of human trafficking. It is therefore important that there is a high level of knowledge and awareness on how trafficking manifests itself. There are examples of identification of trafficking victims taking place both on the basis of intelligence gathering operations evolving into crimi-nal investigations and on the basis of observations made by patrolling, front-line offi-cers. Another starting point for identification of victims is surveillance of the Internet. In 2016, the Police reported 82 suspected cases of trafficking for sexual purposes. Of these 82 cases, 16 cases regarded children and 66 cases regarded persons over the age of 18. In addition, 122 cases were reported regarding trafficking in human beings for other purposes, mainly begging (33) and forced labour (26).

Also for the Swedish Migration Agency, it is an important task to detect and report suspected cases of trafficking. In 2016, the number of internal reports on suspected cases increased by almost 75% compared to the year before. In total, 341 suspected cases were reported. 91 of them concerned children below the age of 18. In 2015, 195 cases had been reported, of which 66 concerned minors.

The Swedish Migration Agency also processes cases in which the person in charge of a preliminary criminal investigation applies for temporary residence permits for suspected victims or witnesses of crimes. In 2016, the Agency made 60 decisions on such cases. In 25 of them, a residence permit was issued to victims of trafficking in human beings.

ActionPlantoprotectchildrenfromtrafficking

In May 2016, the Swedish Government decided on an Action Plan for 2016–2018 to protect children from human trafficking, exploitation and sexual abuse. This action plan continues a previous action plan, which covered the period 2014–2015. The new plan shall help to reach the goals of the 2030 Agenda, which foresees the elimination of abuse, exploitation, human trafficking and all forms of violence or torture against children, and the abolition of all forms of violence against women and girls in public and private spheres, including human trafficking, sexual abuse and other types of exploitation.

Developmentofareferralmechanism

As a result of the project “Development of a Transnational Referral Mechanism for Sweden - Targeted support to County Administrative Board of Stockholm”, guidelines have been developed in 2016 for the identification and referral of trafficked persons in Sweden. These guidelines are translated into a “Manual on suspicion of human traf-ficking”. The manual is indented to support professionals who come in contact with victims human trafficking. The manual clarifies the responsibilities of various authori-ties with regard to assistance and protection for victims of trafficking, and how they can respond. The authorities included are the social services, the Police Authority, the Swedish Migration Agency, the Swedish Prosecution Authority, the civil society against trafficking and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).


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Criminallawprotectionagainsthumantrafficking

In October 2016, a government-appointed inquiry presented several proposals for a revision of the criminal law protection against human trafficking. One of the propos-als is that the human trafficking provision should be amended, so that it is applied in a more appropriate way. For instance, it was suggested to lower the level of proof required to convict perpetrators of human trafficking. The inquiry also proposed criminal law protection against exploitation of vulnerable people in cases other than human trafficking. It suggested that a penalty provision should be introduced on exploitation of the distress of others, and another penalty provision on improper financial exploitation of others.


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7 Irregular migration

The Swedish Government’s objective is to secure long-term, sustainable migration policies that maintain the right of asylum and that, within the framework of regulated migration, facilitate mobility across borders. An efficient regime aimed at combatting illegal entry or stay is seen as a precondition to achieve this objective.

One basic element in tackling irregular immigration is to ensure a well-developed, efficient and reliable system of checks on persons in order to prevent foreign nation-als travelling into or staying in Sweden in contravention of the relevant regulations. Checks on persons are carried out both at the EU external borders and within the Swedish territory. Sweden’s geographical position, however, means that there are no external land borders. Most irregular migrants who arrive in Sweden have travelled via another EU Member State or by air.33

Due to the exceptional refugee situation in 2015, the Government introduced tem-porary border controls at its intra-Schengen borders, e.g. towards Denmark. These controls were prolonged several times during 2016. It also prepared new legislation (effective since 4 January 2016), according to which identity controls are carried out of all persons crossing the Swedish-Danish border by bus, train or boat. These id-checks were carried out throughout the year 2016, until they were abandoned again in May 2017. Ferry operators on routes from Germany to Sweden has also been required to check their passengers’ identities.

In 2016, according to Eurostat, 1,405 persons travelling irregularly were refused entry into Sweden at its external borders, i.e. more than twice as many as during the year 2015, when 615 persons were refused entry. In addition, 1,210 third country nationals were found to be illegally present on Swedish territory in 2016. This figure was somewhat lower than in 2015, when 1,445 persons were found to be illegally present.

33 Cf. Swedish Migration Agency/EMN (2012): Practical responses to irregular migration into Sweden, a study produced by the European Migration Network (EMN).


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8 Return migration

In order to ensure the sustainability of the Swedish asylum system, those who, following an examination, are found not to be in need of protection must return to their countries of origin. A rejection of an application for a residence permit is usually accompanied by a refusal-of-entry or expulsion order. In the first place, the persons concerned should return on a voluntary basis, with the support of the Swedish Migration Agency. In cases where the obligation to return to one’s country of origin is not respected, the police is responsible for implementing the refusal-of-entry or expulsion order. People must always be returned under humane and dignified conditions.

In 2016, the Swedish Migration Agency joined the EURLO (European Union Return Liaison Officers) project. A Swedish EURLO officer was stationed in Rabat, Morocco, in 1 May 2016, and in December 2016, a Swedish EURLO officer was stationed in Kabul. By participating in the EURLO project, the Migration Agency aims to facilitate and reinforce returns and to increase the number of returns. It is also anticipated that the deployment of officers in Morocco and Afghanistan will provide further opportunities to trace the families of unaccompanied minors and reunite them with their families, thereby increasing the number of unaccompanied minors returned to these countries.

On 2 May 2016, the Government announced that the Police and the Migration Agency would be tasked to deploy an additional number of liaison officers at Swedish Mis-sions abroad in order to facilitate return. Three Return Liaison Officers (RLO) were deployed to Tbilisi, Amman and Nairobi, in addition to the EURLO officers in Rabat and Kabul.

In June 2016, the Swedish Migration Agency joined the ERIN (European Reintegration Network) as a privileged partner. Within the scope of ERIN, the Migration Agency will provide a range of reintegration measures to people returning to Afghanistan, Nige-ria, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Russia, Morocco and Somalia.

In October 2016, Sweden entered a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding with Afghanistan on co-operation in the field of migration. The purpose of this agreement is to facilitate the return of Afghan citizens who do not have a right to stay in Swe-den. Under the terms of the agreement, Sweden now has the possibility to carry out forced as well as voluntary returns to Afghanistan.

Amendmentstoasylumseekers’righttoassistance

To disincentivise irregular stays, amendments to the Reception of Asylum Seekers Act came into force in Sweden in June 2016. A person who has applied for asylum and received a refusal of entry or expulsion order is now no longer entitled to accommo-dation and daily allowance provided by the Swedish Migration Agency when the dead-line for voluntary return has expired. The amendment does not apply to adults living with their children under the age of 18, however; they still have a right to assistance until they leave.

On 22 September 2016, the Swedish Government presented a number of measures aiming at improving the return of rejected asylum seekers. Among these measures is a clearer division and allocation of responsibilities between the relevant authorities, mainly the Swedish Migration Agency and the Police, possibilities to detain persons in


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other facilities than ordinary detention facilities, and extended possibilities for author-ities to confiscate passports and ID-documents as well as to take fingerprints at inter-nal checks on foreigners.

Re-establishmentsupport

In order to facilitate return and to strengthen the incentives for voluntary return, eco-nomic re-establishment support can be granted to persons who have received a final decision or withdrawn their application and choose to return voluntarily to a country with very limited opportunities for re-establishment. In 2016, 3,235 persons applied for re-establishment support, more than five times as many as in 2015 (609). 2,527 (78%) received a positive decision on their application. Among those who received re-establishment support, 1,725 persons were Iraqi nationals, 655 were Afghans, and 61 were from Syria.

Voluntary and forced returns

In 2016, 16,414 persons returned from Sweden to their home countries (8,409), to other member states of the EU or the EEA (6,804), other countries (1,131) or to unknown destinations (70) on a voluntary basis, assisted by the Swedish Migration Agency. Overall, the number of voluntary returns was considerably higher than in 2015, when 10,633 rejected asylum seekers left the country voluntarily. The most important nationality groups among those who returned voluntarily to their home countries in 2015 were nationals of Iraq (2,976), Albania (951) and Afghanistan (854); see Figure 8 below.

The Police Authority carried out 2,504 forced returns in 2016, slightly fewer than in 2015, when 2,628 forced returns were carried out. The main nationality groups among those who were returned by force to their home countries were Albania (401), Serbia (158) and Afghanistan (155).

Figur 8: Voluntary return to home countries, main citizenship groups, 2016


Iraq

Albania

Afghanistan

Iran

Ukraine

Serbia

Kosovo

Macedonia (FYROM)

Other

35%

10%

6%

5%

5%

4%

2%

22%

11%

European Migration Network

Co-funded by the European Union

About the EMN

The European Migration Network (EMN) is an EU funded network, set up with the aim of providing up-to-date, objective, reliable and comparable information on migration and asylum to the institutions

of the European Union, plus authorities and institutions of the Member States of the EU, in order to inform policymaking. The EMN also serves to provide the wider public with such information.

The EMN was established by Council Decision 2008/381/EC adopted on 14 May 2008. The Swedish Migration Agency is the Swedish National Contact Point (NCP) for the EMN.

Migrationsverket • 601 70 Norrköping

phone +46 (0)771-235 235 • e-mail [email protected]

www.migrationsverket.se • www.emnsweden.se

Documents

Report from EMN Sweden EMN Annual Report 2017 on Migration ... · EMN Annual Report on Migration and Asylum 2016 Sweden 4 Overview summary This report aims to outline the most significant