SHARE
COPY LINK

IMMIGRATION

Asylum report: 8 out of 10 want to stay in Sweden

Although most asylum seekers in Sweden are happy with the accommodation provided for them, although many are worried about the long waits to be granted residence permits, according to a survey.

Asylum report: 8 out of 10 want to stay in Sweden
File photo: A man makes his bid at Pajala Asylum Centre. Fredrik Sandberg/TT
An overwhelming majority – 84 per cent – also stated their wish to remain in Sweden permanently, although only half believe they are likely to succeed.
 
The survey, conducted by Expressen, asked 1,691 people in 18 asylum centres across Sweden, finding that the majority wish to establish a permanent life for themselves in the country. Seven per cent said that they would prefer to return to their home countries once the situations there allow this.
 
The desire to return home also varies according to where the asylum seekers come from. None of the Somalians asked wished to return home, while 13 per cent of Iranians and 11 per cent of the Syrians that responded to the survey indicated a desire to return home at some point in the future.
 
Fifty-nine per cent of survey participants said that they were happy with conditions in their asylum centres, with one third saying that they were 'very satisfied'. 
 
But a significant amount of dissatisfaction was also recorded, particularly in relation to waiting times to be granted residency permits.
 
Just over a third of respondents also said that they felt the allowance provided by Sweden's Migration Authority (Migrationsverket) does not cover their basic costs, and around 30 per cent said that they were dissatisfied with not being able to work or have the the opportunity to learn Swedish.
 
The long wait for decisions on asylum applications is a cause of stress for many, according to the Expressen report. Migrationsverket has stated that waiting times have been its biggest challenge during 2016, with less than half of the 163,000 applications received this year so far having been processed. Waiting times are expected to continue into next year, reaching up to 14-15 months.