Syns du inte så finns du inte. - En studie om irreguljära immigranter och socialtjänsten

Abstract

Different studies have shown that somewhere between 10 000 and 75 000 persons live in Sweden as undocumented migrants. They are not entitled to basic human and social rights such as access to health care on the same basis as persons holding a residence permit in Sweden. Undocumented migrants are often exploited as workers in the informal economy and they are not allowed to organize in unions. The Swedish Social Services is by law bound to care for all people living in Sweden, though in reality undocumented migrants are excluded from benefits and efforts granted by the Social Services. Our aim with the study has been to investigate the situation of undocumented migrants in Sweden and in relation to Social Services. In the first phase of the study we have investigated the extent of interaction between undocumented migrants and the Social Services in different parts of the country. We also had an interest in exploring the extent of written guidelines produced by any authority or municipality regarding Social Services interaction with undocumented migrants. The main focus of the study was to identify discourses present in the interaction between social workers and undocumented migrants. In order to identify these discourses we have conducted qualitative individual interviews with five social workers employed in different sectors of the Social Services in Gothenburg. On of the main conclusions is that the discourses we have identified has a significant impact on the possible interaction between the Social Services and undocumented migrants. Those that we interviewed have described a very limited or non-existing interaction between social workers and undocumented migrants, and the issue is not something that is spoken of in their workplaces. A central theme throughout our study has been to discuss how to improve undocumented migrants level of access to efforts made by the Social Services. We believe that in order to improve the situation of undocumented migrants and their access to the Social Services, their vulnerable situation needs to be acknowledged by authorities and thereby allocate resources both in financial and political terms.