Sweden's Work Permits Create a Trap for Migrant Workers, Study Finds
A new study reveals that Sweden's recent migration overhaul has made work permits a double-edged sword: while they allow rejected asylum seekers and international students to stay employed, the employer-dependent system simultaneously leaves them vulnerable to deportation. The finding raises questions about labor market stability and workforce reliability for employers relying on these migrants.
Originaltitel: The Cruel Optimism of Work Permits: Vulnerabilities and Deportability Among Rejected Asylum-Seekers and International Students Pursuing Track Changes in Sweden
<p>This article suggests that recent transformation of the Swedish migration regime has exposed different categories of migrants working in Sweden to deportability, despite the promises that work permits offer. Firstly, I outline the policy context in which deportability works as a cohesive order (Könönen, Citation2018, p. 59). Secondly, I explore how migrants who go through track changes balance prolonging their stay on the basis of work with the risk of deportation. Here, deportability captures how having a work permit both open doors and at the same time produces vulnerabilities attached to being dependent upon individual employers in the current employer-driven system.</p>