Left to right, Hasan Zia, Mahay Hasan, 14, Musa Hasan, 7, Somia Bashir and Yusuf Hasan, 16, photographed at home in Kåge.
– I felt like an outsider at all times at Kåge school. I understood that the other students had known each other since they were very young. They didn't want an outsider to be part of their group, Yusuf Hasan, says, reflecting on a difficult time of his life.
He shifts in his chair at his family home in Kåge. It's clearly tough for Yusuf, 16, to talk about this.
– But I thought the teachers could have made an effort. Anything would have been good. Like asking me, 'Hey, why are you sitting alone?' Or asking the other kids, 'Why does he sit alone all the time? Have you ever tried talking to him?'
Yusuf and his family said goodbye to friends and family in Pakistan in 2021 for a new life in Gothenburg and the opportunity for Yusuf's mother, Somia, 41, to study for her international masters in educational research. Then they moved to Kåge from Gothenburg in June 2023.
Like many other families, they moved because of Northvolt. Yusuf's father, Hasan Zia, 50, was offered a job there in early summer 2023. In Pakistan Hasan had been working in technical sales and marketing for 20 years.
At the same time, Yusuf's mother, Somia Bashir, was finishing her studies, so she moved to Skellefteå soon after with their children, Yusuf, then 14, Mahay, then 12 and Musa, then 5.
– Northvolt was then an attractive option, says Somia.
– I'm the main visa applicant, so I had a year to find work after finishing my studies. When I was offered a job at Northvolt, I was really happy that I did not have to go through a year's process of finding work. Now I think I should probably have taken that year to find a job, she says.
Life in Kåge was understandably very different from life in Gothenburg, but the family welcomed the change. They saw the positive side of it, especially the security that came with both Somia and Hasan getting jobs.
Yusuf Hasan, 16, photographed at home in Kåge. "They didn't want an outsider to be part of their group."
However, the move from Gothenburg to Kåge didn’t go as well as Yusuf had hoped. At his school in Gothenburg, he had been close friends with two Pakistani boys who had lived in Sweden their whole lives. They helped him a lot.
Yusuf says that while he was in school in Gothenburg, his teachers always encouraged him to spend more time with Swedish students. They believed it would help him fit in better and improve his Swedish.
Yusuf was used to working really hard at school. School life in Pakistan had been very intense. He went to one of the best schools in Asia, Aitchison College in Lahore, often described as the Eton of Pakistan, whose alumni include cricketer and politician, Imran Khan.
Starting from the age of six, he spent his days studying at school, then went to extra tutoring when he got home. His daily routine was to study, eat, sleep, and repeat.
– I wasn't really thinking about friends when I started school in Kåge. I just thought they'll come, right? I thought it didn’t matter too much, as the next year I'll be going to gymnasiet, says Yusuf.
"Skellefteå was not ready for Northvolt. It’s just common sense that you need to tell the students inside the classroom, 'You might see new faces, because there's something new and big happening in your city.'"
– But I didn't make a single friend. No one even talked to me in ninth grade. It was a bit weird, says Yusuf.
Thankfully, since ninth grade, things have been better for Yusuf. He’s now about to finish his first year at Balderskolan gymnasiet, which clearly felt like a fresh start for him.
– I talked to someone in the first day, and the next day, I was sitting at lunch, and they invited me to sit with their friends, he says, visibly brightening up.
– Since that day, I've been making more friends. There’s this good atmosphere in the classroom. It feels like everyone's just more open to making new friends. There's also more diversity here, because Skellefteå’s a bigger city. Now I’ve made some really good friends - my best friends. I no longer sit alone like I did in Kåge, Yusuf says.
Hearing Yusuf recount his story is clearly difficult for Somia and Hasan. They realised their son was not enjoying school and became increasingly concerned.
– When I realised that he wasn't even participating in studenten, that was the time when my husband and I knew that something was very wrong. We intervened and we talked to the teachers. I asked them why they hadn’t called us? Did they not suspect that something was wrong?, says Somia.
– Skellefteå was not ready for Northvolt, she says, and continues:
– I was also a teacher in my home country. It’s just common sense that you need to tell the students inside the classroom, “You might see new faces, because there's something new and big happening in your city”, says Somia.
But now Somia and Hasan have lost their jobs they have other issues to worry about, such as their future here in Skellefteå.
Somia only has until the end of July to find another job. Both Somia and Hasan are more worried about their children than for themselves.
"I really don't want to go through all this again."
– Where do we go after two months? We're not even sure, says Hasan.
– Hasan and I may find work if we return to Pakistan, but what about our kids? asks Somia.
– We came here for their future, she says.
When asked about his future Yusuf is quite clearly annoyed at his and his family's predicament.
– Why is the government or EU not doing something about this situation? My parents are very clever people, but because they don't have fluent Swedish they're now being ignored by employers. They didn't need Swedish at Northvolt, so give them a chance to learn. But no, they have two months to find a job, or they have to leave. I just think that's incredibly unfair.
He's unhappy about his situation too.
– I left lifelong friends in Pakistan, very good friends in Gothenburg, and now I'll probably have to leave good friends here, he says and heaves a sigh, all his irritation evaporating to be replaced by sorrow.
– I really don't want to go through all this again, he says.