The Impact of Temporary Residence Permits on Young Refugees’ Abilities to Build a Life in Sweden

Drawing on interviews with young refugees, 20–30 years old, mainly from Syria and Afghanistan, we discuss the effects that temporary residence permits have on their ability to build a life in Sweden. The article includes both unaccompanied and accompanied youth that at some point had been given temp...

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Main Authors: Jacob Lind, Christina Hansen, Nadeen Khoury
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-03-01
Series:Social Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/12/3/143
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author Jacob Lind
Christina Hansen
Nadeen Khoury
author_facet Jacob Lind
Christina Hansen
Nadeen Khoury
author_sort Jacob Lind
collection DOAJ
description Drawing on interviews with young refugees, 20–30 years old, mainly from Syria and Afghanistan, we discuss the effects that temporary residence permits have on their ability to build a life in Sweden. The article includes both unaccompanied and accompanied youth that at some point had been given temporary residence permits. These permits could later be renewed or turned into permanent permits if the youth fulfilled certain tough requirements. Through rich empirical data, we show how these temporal techniques of border control keep young refugees in a state where they fear deportation, which have detrimental effects for their ability to build a life in Sweden. They are not able to plan ahead and they feel forced to work although they would have preferred to study, which puts them out of sync with other young people around them, challenges their sense of agency and increases their vulnerability. Temporary residence permits severely limit the life opportunities of young refugees in Sweden, and thus hamper their ability to achieve the “migrant integration” that is expected of them.
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spelling doaj.art-8c2ccde682084bcf8671f1e9817a118c2023-11-17T13:51:57ZengMDPI AGSocial Sciences2076-07602023-03-0112314310.3390/socsci12030143The Impact of Temporary Residence Permits on Young Refugees’ Abilities to Build a Life in SwedenJacob Lind0Christina Hansen1Nadeen Khoury2Department of Global Political Studies, Faculty of Culture and Society, Malmö University, 205 06 Malmö, SwedenDepartment of Global Political Studies, Faculty of Culture and Society, Malmö University, 205 06 Malmö, SwedenDepartment of Global Political Studies, Faculty of Culture and Society, Malmö University, 205 06 Malmö, SwedenDrawing on interviews with young refugees, 20–30 years old, mainly from Syria and Afghanistan, we discuss the effects that temporary residence permits have on their ability to build a life in Sweden. The article includes both unaccompanied and accompanied youth that at some point had been given temporary residence permits. These permits could later be renewed or turned into permanent permits if the youth fulfilled certain tough requirements. Through rich empirical data, we show how these temporal techniques of border control keep young refugees in a state where they fear deportation, which have detrimental effects for their ability to build a life in Sweden. They are not able to plan ahead and they feel forced to work although they would have preferred to study, which puts them out of sync with other young people around them, challenges their sense of agency and increases their vulnerability. Temporary residence permits severely limit the life opportunities of young refugees in Sweden, and thus hamper their ability to achieve the “migrant integration” that is expected of them.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/12/3/143temporary residence permitrefugee youthvulnerabilityagencytemporality
spellingShingle Jacob Lind
Christina Hansen
Nadeen Khoury
The Impact of Temporary Residence Permits on Young Refugees’ Abilities to Build a Life in Sweden
Social Sciences
temporary residence permit
refugee youth
vulnerability
agency
temporality
title The Impact of Temporary Residence Permits on Young Refugees’ Abilities to Build a Life in Sweden
title_full The Impact of Temporary Residence Permits on Young Refugees’ Abilities to Build a Life in Sweden
title_fullStr The Impact of Temporary Residence Permits on Young Refugees’ Abilities to Build a Life in Sweden
title_full_unstemmed The Impact of Temporary Residence Permits on Young Refugees’ Abilities to Build a Life in Sweden
title_short The Impact of Temporary Residence Permits on Young Refugees’ Abilities to Build a Life in Sweden
title_sort impact of temporary residence permits on young refugees abilities to build a life in sweden
topic temporary residence permit
refugee youth
vulnerability
agency
temporality
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/12/3/143
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