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Ten EU countries will receive around 400 homeless children from the Moria refugee camp. Sweden is not one of them. Instead, Sweden sends out tents, sleeping bags, blankets and camping kitchens for support, as thousands of refugees now have no roof over their heads.
And earlier this week it was discussed whether Sweden can receive people from the camp.
Justice and Migration Minister Morgan Johansson (S) wrote in a comment to TT that it is the Swedish Migration Agency that makes the decisions, not the government, when it comes to asylum seekers from Greece.
The Swedish Migration Agency, in turn, says that the authority can only make decisions in so-called Dublin investigations, that is, questions relating to people with an asylum process in progress or completed in Sweden previously, or people who have relatives here.
“You do not have to wait”
According to Johansson’s press secretary, the government cannot commission the Swedish Migration Board to receive people from other countries; it would be a constitutional violation. The only case in which this is possible is if the European Commission has decided on a redistribution of the refugees to the Member States.
But according to Anna Lundberg, a professor of welfare law at Linköping University, there is nothing stopping Sweden from receiving people from the camps.
– It is not true that Sweden somehow has to wait for approval from the European Commission. Sweden can act in relation to serious situations, as other countries are doing at the moment, he tells TT.
She believes this is a clear sign that the EU’s migration policy has failed if Sweden feels compelled to wait for the Commission’s approval to allow the people in question to come here.
The asylum application can be moved
Lundberg also notes that the rule on Dublin investigations, referred to by the Swedish Immigration Board earlier this week, is something the authority can handle to allow people to come here.
– If it is for strong humanitarian reasons, asylum applications can move between different countries. For example, Sweden can take over the application processes from Greece. From what I can see, there are no obstacles for the Swedish Immigration Board to create a process for accepting asylum applications from Greece, he says.
He also emphasizes that it is difficult for him to understand why Sweden would not contribute and bring homeless children from the camp.
– Sweden has a much better reception of refugees than Greece, especially in the current situation. The government also often speaks of shared responsibility. In this matter, one would like Sweden to lead by example, says Anna Lundberg.
Åsa Johansson / TT
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