Families face deportation despite being needed in the local community.
Left: Sara Ghorbani and Farhood Masoudi, Norsjö.
Right: Silan and Siyabend Cavdarci, Jörn.
There is a labour shortage in inland Norrland. Yet the government, together with the Social Democrats, has introduced a new law that means people who are already established in Sweden now risk deportation.
The so-called track change, which allowed asylum seekers to switch to work permits, was abolished on April 1st this year. Norran has reported on how this is affecting families in Norsjö and Jörn.
On Friday, May 9, the Social Democrats' party leader Magdalena Andersson visited Skellefteå. I asked her why people who are working and paying taxes are being deported from Sweden:
– If you apply for asylum, you can stay if you meet the criteria for asylum. Otherwise, you have to leave the country, said Magdalena Andersson.
– My view is clear: Sweden should have a strict migration policy. But if there is a labour shortage, people should be able to come here and work. That is best handled by the labour market partners (employers and trade unions) through a labour market assessment.
The Social Democrats’ idea of a labour market assessment is that trade unions and employer organisations should jointly be given the power to determine where there is a labour shortage – and thus which workers should be granted permission to work in Sweden. There are several arguments behind this idea, partly to protect Swedish workers from foreign wage competition, and partly to ensure that jobs in Sweden are offered to unemployed Swedes first.
From a Norrland perspective, it’s hard to see any benefits from the current tightening of the rules – and it’s unlikely that the Social Democrats’ proposed policy would lead to improvements.
In April, ten municipalities from Norrbotten and Västerbotten sent a letter to the government protesting the potential deportation of people who had switched from asylum seeker status to work permits. Of course, the municipalities want to keep those who are already working there. It’s harder to attract new people than to retain those who have already made the move.
During her visit to Skellefteå, Andersson also commented on the situation for foreign workers who have been laid off by Northvolt. Non-EU citizens have a maximum of three months to find a new job before they must leave the country. I asked her if she thought they should be given more time to look for work in Sweden:
– Yes, that would be one way. An additional three months would increase the chance of these people being able to stay in the country, said Andersson.
– I agree that something should be done – and should already have been done – to make it easier for foreign workers at the battery factory to remain in the country. These are skilled individuals who have a lot to offer. If the factory gets back on its feet, it would be an advantage to have that competence still in Sweden.
But the government, along with the Social Democrats, has created many obstacles for labour migrants.
For ex-Northvolt workers, the combination of the threshold salary requirement and the time limit has been the biggest challenge. To extend their work permit in Sweden, they must find a job that pays more than 28,400 kronor per month.
That means they can’t simply take a job in home care or at a restaurant while waiting for something better that matches their qualifications. No, it has to be a perfect match right away – and that’s obviously difficult.
Andreas Westerberg is political editor at Norran.
If it were true that foreign workers were actually taking jobs from unemployed Swedes, I could understand the Social Democrats’ reasoning to some extent. But from a Västerbotten perspective, it makes no sense.
Many municipalities are facing labour shortages, and here we have the kind of competence Sweden craves.
It’s therefore indefensible that people who work and pay taxes are being deported.