Published 2 October 2024 at 13.41
Domestic. The government has presented a new bill which means that asylum seekers will, as a general rule, live in the Migration Agency's accommodation instead of arranging accommodation on their own.
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In Sweden, asylum seekers live in their own accommodation to an extent that has no equivalent in other comparable countries. According to the government, this is associated with significant negative consequences both for the asylum seekers and for society, in the form of, among other things, overcrowding and so-called segregation.
The government is proposing changes to the law that aim to create a new order for asylum seekers' housing, where the starting point is that asylum seekers must live in the Migration Agency's housing instead of arranging housing on their own.
— The government has today presented legislative proposals that must create a new order for asylum seekers' accommodation. It is an important step to eventually phase out the old system of own accommodation for asylum seekers. The aim is to get the reception process in order for a more efficient asylum examination, shorten processing times and reduce segregation and exclusion, says Migration Minister Johan Forssell (M).
The proposals mean, among other things, that as a general rule, asylum seekers should only be entitled to financial assistance during the asylum period if they live in the asylum accommodation they have been allocated. The Swedish Migration Agency is given the opportunity to examine asylum seekers' accommodation and storage spaces in the asylum accommodation, in order to check that the asylum seeker lives in the allocated accommodation, and an application for a residence permit may be regarded as revoked for asylum seekers who do not live in an asylum accommodation and do not keep the Migration Agency informed of their residential address.
It is also proposed a statutory obligation for asylum seekers to participate in community introduction.
— This is an important first step in gaining control over the asylum reception and reducing both social exclusion and preventing a growing shadow society. More measures in this direction will be presented during October, says the Sweden Democrats' migration policy spokesperson Ludvig Aspling.
The changes to the law are proposed to enter into force on March 1, 2025.