2021 Statelessness & Citizenship Review 3(2) interviews. The interviewees previously resided in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, the Gaza Strip, Libya and the Gulf states. I have also observed processes related to resistance, such as protest activities and demonstrations that were carried out in 2014 and during the Spring of 2020 in Gothenburg. I have followed internet and Facebook communities, initiated in support of protest activities in Gothenburg starting in the Spring of 2020, called Palestinian Refugees Rights in Sweden, Palestinian Asylum-Seekers Association and Palestinians’ Asylum-Seeking, Manifestation and Sit-in Strike and I have been involved in conversations over messenger and email. These methods used made up a combination of the qualitative text analysis, qualitative interviews, interpretation of narratives, observation and internet studies. Positionalities involve inevitable and strong asymmetries and hierarchies as I am safe and secure not only in my Swedish citizenship, but in my status and position, engaging with one of the most vulnerable groups at the margins of contemporary Swedish society. Particular ethical questions arise in relation to, for example, hunger strikes, when stateless people put their lives at risk. I have not seen myself as a ‘neutral’ bystander, but I sympathise with Maurice Stierl who writes about the position of an ‘ethnography of struggle’. 57 In such research, positions may become blurred and it should be noted that I have assisted in providing contacts with legal authorities. I have also been involved in conversations trying to persuade individuals not to commit death by suicide or, simply, to comfort individuals in periods of distress. STATE OF THE ART: STATELESSNESS AND SWEDEN’S MIGRATION POLITICS Intense political polarisation on migration in Sweden has, during the last few years, resulted in a highly restricted politics. Due to the so-called ‘refugee crisis’ in 2015, temporary laws were introduced by the Swedish Government in 2016 and though, at least, withdrawn in 2019, they were to be applied to the above 2005 Aliens Act. 58 These laws reduced the number of grounds for protection, replaced permanent residence permits with temporary permits and restricted the possibility of family reunifications. 59 In effect, this has considerably weakened the prospects of ending statelessness. Previously, stateless people could be granted residence permits grounded in ‘other needs of protection’ (rather than reasons for asylum) and ‘humanitarian reasons’, but the possibility of this has become considerably limited. 60 A new Aliens Act became reality in July 2021, 61 confirming the changes already introduced through the temporary laws. 62 The situation of nondeportability for stateless people was discussed in a governmental report suggesting that statelessness could, in certain circumstances, be considered a ground for protection in itself, 63 but this was not included in the new law. Further, 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 Stierl (n 2) 17. Aliens Act (n 54). Lag No 2016:752 om tillfälliga begrängsningar av möjligheten att få uppehållstillstånd i Sverige [Law No 2016:752 on Temporary Restrictions and the Possibility of Obtaining a Residence Permit in Sweden] (22 June 2016) Svensk författningssamling 2019:481 (Sweden). ibid. Lag No 29:1211 om om ändring i lagen; 2017:356 om ändring i lagen; 2005:716om ändring i utlänningslagen (1 July 2021) Svensk författningssamling 2021:766 (Sweden). Aliens Act (n 54). Uppehållstillstånd på grund av praktiska verkställighetshinder och preskription (Report No 2017:84, Statens Offentliga Utredningar 2017) 84 (‘Uppehållstillstån Report’). 274