Oxford Monitor of Forced Migration Vol. 7 No. 2 will have on refugees’ ability to acquire citizenship if they are unable to acquire a permanent residence permit though have met the residency requirement. The temporary asylum law could put citizenship further out of reach for refugees granted this temporary status, eroding the usefulness of Section 11 of the Act on Swedish Citizenship which saw many refugees (stateless or otherwise) naturalised after four years (Regeringskansliet, 2006). Those with temporary residence permits now have certain criteria to meet to secure permanent residence, including self-sufficiency or educational attainment (Migrationsverket, 2016d). This has effectively introduced new naturalisation criteria specifically targeted at refugees who were issued residency after the 20th of July 2016. This shift to more restrictive access to citizenship is not a breach of Sweden’s international obligations, as there remains facilitated access to citizenship for stateless persons and refugees if they hold a permanent residence permit. 15 Despite this, if the temporary asylum laws are not managed carefully and with sensitivity to the reality that some of those with this status are stateless, these new barriers could lead to some refugees being in a prolonged, or possibly indefinite stateless situation in Sweden. The Temporary Asylum Law and Cessation of Refugee Status While previously all refugees received permanent residence, now the authorities will have to begin to consider cessation of refugee status for some of those with temporary residence. This introduces new challenges. The first is ensuring that this procedure is conducted in line with the demands of the cessation provisions for stateless refugees in the 1951 Convention given the lack of law or policy to accurate and transparently identify the statelessness of refugees. Second, the wording of the SMA policy position on the extension of temporary protection only notes that an extension will be granted if there is continued ‘grounds for protection’ (Migrationsverket, 2016d). However, the authorities must also consider stateless refugees’ ability to return to their country of previous habitual residence if Sweden is to meet its obligations under the 1951 Convention. In addition, if they do not consider the ability to return, then they will be faced with the situation of stateless refugees losing their refugee status though being undeportable as there is no country to which they can return. A recent and comprehensive assessment of Swedish law, policy and case law by Lundberg and Tunbjer on (un)deportability of stateless people, amongst others, is a very useful resource (see Staten’s Offentliga Utredningar, 2017). The assessment shows that there is a lack of consideration of Sweden’s obligations under the 1954 Convention to grant a residency status to these people as well as UNHCR’s (2014) guidance on the conditions under which the deportation of stateless people can occur. This case law is extremely enlightening as, if the cessation of refugee status for those with temporary residence is not managed carefully, stateless refugees could be left in legal and administrative limbo, with no status, being unable to return to their country of previous habitual 15 Article 32 of the 1954 Convention and Article 34 of the 1951 Convention mirror each other when they note that, ‘The Contracting States shall as far as possible facilitate the assimilation and naturalization of stateless persons [refugees]. They shall, in particular, make every effort to expedite naturalization proceedings and to reduce as far as possible the charges and costs of such proceedings’. (UN General Assembly, 1954: Article. 32; UN General Assembly, 1951: Article.32). 30