Refusing Refusal MIXED METHODS Palestinians are being focused on because they constitute the largest group of stateless people in Sweden. They represent complex realities of arriving from a variety of contexts and previous countries of residence. Sweden has been chosen as a case study because of its rapidly harshening migration politics in recent years. The article has a multi-sided approach. A qualitative text analysis has been applied to investigate altogether 15 decisions on asylum in the first instance. These were sourced from: the SMA, which have been made available to me by claimants themselves, 53 the Swedish Utlänningslagen (‘Aliens Act’), 54 official enquiries, temporary laws, five decisions of the Courts of Migration and legal decisions of the SMA. 55 The analysis has interpreted the formulation of different techniques of the regime and how those are manifested in the documents. Interpretations of narratives 56 collected through conversations with stateless Palestinians primarily in Gothenburg, but also Malmö, Stockholm and smaller towns in the Western Region of Sweden, constitute a major part of the methodological design. Interviews are ethically sensitive and narrators have been given pseudonyms. As the asylum process is contingent on frequent questioning in official institutions resembling interrogation procedures, underlining vulnerabilities and that one’s story is constantly disputed or challenged. The method used emphasises a story-focused avenue in order to let people communicate their stories and experiences in their own words rather than through me conducting ‘interviews’. There is a hunt for migrant stories by different authorities, researchers, humanitarian organisations, NGOs and journalists and, most of the time, sharing those stories does not mean change for migrants. Therefore, ethical questions of risks of exploitation are at the fore. Individuals have told me their stories of the asylum process, how they actually managed different stages and aspects of the process and how they acted in order to influence their futures. Confidence has been important and has been built with the Palestinian community in Sweden through earlier studies and through personal networks. Throughout the article, some of these stories will be fleshed out in some detail. These stories were selected as they stand out as important contributions in the sense that they illustrate both conduct and counter-conduct. The narratives are built on 12 deep interviews with men, arriving between 2007 and 2019. Men often arrive earlier than their families and wait for them to arrive later, as well as being more actively engaged in protest activities. Two have been interviewed through follow-ups with up to four years in-between. All interviewees have been offered the opportunity to read the transcripts of their interviews and have been able to revise those transcripts. 11 additional shorter conversations have been held with men and women alike, in family homes, at offices/workplaces or in relation to protest activities taking place in Gothenburg in the Spring of 2020. Those conversations provided additional information but were not organised as 53 54 55 56 In referring to documents, code initials have been given to the claimants who appear in the texts and dates have not been revealed. Utlänningslagen [Aliens Act] (29 September 2005) Svensk författningssamling 2005:716 (Sweden) (‘Aliens Act’). Rättsliga ställningstaganden. These do not have the status of legal decisions. See Marita Eastmond, ‘Stories as Lived Experiences: Narratives in Forced Migration Research’ (2007) 20(2) Journal of Refugee Studies 248; Catherine K Riessmann, Narrative Methods for the Human Sciences (Sage Publications 2008). 273