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In mid-September, a parliamentary commission presented proposals for new immigration legislation. Under the proposal, temporary residence permits will be extended for two years at a time, indefinitely, and the requirements for obtaining a permanent residence permit will be toughened.
According to the Swedish National Organization for Women’s Shelters and Girls’ Shelters, Roks, the proposal runs the risk of greatly affecting foreign women who have come to Sweden to marry Swedish men or men with a permanent residence permit.
– We are very upset and concerned that this group of women will not rise up and receive stronger protection, says Jenny Westerstrand, president of Roks.
Jenny Westerstrand, President Roks.
Photo: Janerik Henriksson / TT
A 2012 government investigation estimated that several thousand foreign women who came to Sweden for related reasons are exposed to violence annually.
Monica Burman, a law professor at Umeå University and one of the research experts, is critical of the bill.
– In violent relationships, men try to control and oppress women. If they are successful, the women will end up in a situation where the temporary residence permit is extended every two years forever, he says.
Riksdag member Rikard Larsson (S), who has been involved in the development of the proposal, says that women exposed to violence have been taken into account.
– Today it is included in the proposal that the woman should receive an independent residence permit if the man with whom she is linked uses violence and rapes her. We would never accept a situation where you can use force to hold a woman, he says.
Rikard Larsson (S).
Photo: Henrik Montgomery / TT
Monica Burman, in turn, means that the so-called violence clause, which is also included in current law, is problematic.
– One requirement is that the woman has been subjected to severe enough violence to be able to stay. It is absurd in a Swedish context. Also, many women are never told this opportunity exists. Part of the oppression is keeping women ignorant of their rights. If you receive a permit on the basis of the violence clause, you now only receive a temporary residence permit for 13 months, according to the proposal.
The investigation has been handed over to the Ministry of Justice. The goal is for new legislation to exist when the temporary law expires in July next year.
