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During the corona pandemic, it has been difficult to organize trips to Sweden for quota refugees who have received a Swedish residence permit. The Swedish Migration Agency now hopes to be able to increase transfers during the fall.
– Even if the municipalities tell us that they are prepared and have capacity, it is clear that it will be a challenge to receive many in a short time, says Roy Melchert, section manager of Swedish Municipalities and Regions, SKR.
Every year since 2017 Sweden has received 5,000 quota refugees. These are people from areas of crisis and conflict, and who the UN has judged that they need protection in another country. Those who go to Sweden receive a Swedish permanent residence permit directly on the site. But during the corona pandemic, many of those who received a residence permit have not been able to travel to Sweden. Between April and August, the reception stopped completely.
This means that the Swedish Migration Agency has written down the forecast for this year of 5,000 to 4,500 quota refugees. If you manage to reach that figure, it means a reception of 2,500 people during the last two months of the year. And this puts pressure on municipalities, which in several cases have reduced their operations during the spring and summer.
The municipality of Falu this year they receive 59 municipal residents, most of whom are quota refugees. So far, only 15 people have been received, and since there have been so few, the activities around the reception have been reduced.
– We have probably dropped from seven to four in the staff working with this, so of course it will have consequences. If they get too close, it will be difficult when everything has to go well and come together, says Mats Berglund, manager of labor market and integration in Falu municipality.
No matter how many the quota of refugees who have time to transfer this year will not affect the quota for next year. Therefore, it will not be bigger because fewer people have been able to come here this year, unless a decision is made about it in the Riksdag.
Roy Melchert of SKR says there is a willingness in many municipalities to receive refugees with quotas, but that it can be a problem if large variations in reception continue to exist.
– And it is clear that if it is a downward fluctuation and there are no refugees as planned, we will not be able to keep these activities going, so to speak. So we need to raise a new discussion in such cases with the government, about how this should work, he says.
