Refusing Refusal
socioeconomic hardships, recalled that he did not understand what was required
of him in the process; 134 what he was to prove to the SMA. His application for
asylum was denied, but he appealed. Twice during a 13 year period of waiting, he
left Sweden for other EU countries in order to try to seek asylum there, actively
trying to change his future. He was sent back both times, in accordance with the
Dublin Regulation. 135 This was interpreted as a sign of non-‘cooperation’ with the
authority. In the decision of the original case, it is stated:
You have not in any way cooperated in expediating the decision of deportation. …
Since you have not cooperated in executing the previous decision, you cannot
obtain a residence permit as your previous decision on deportation has ceased to be
valid. 136
Thus, there are cases where the factual issues are glossed over and focus is
instead placed on the behaviour of the claimant.
For Palestinians who arrive to Sweden from the Gulf countries, where they may
have held temporary residence permits related to employment and a sponsor
(kafala), 137 it is also a requirement that they repeatedly seek work and a new
sponsor in the Gulf during the process of asylum. Thus, the SMA considers
impediments to enforcement to exist only if the claimant can prove that a new
sponsor and employment cannot be found.
Khalil, who had been deported and lost his sponsor in the UAE, told me how
he had to repeatedly contact potential sponsors in the UAE and prove that they
would not employ him. In a Court of Appeal decision concerning a man who
previously lived in the UAE, it was concluded that since the applicant had not tried
to return or show the SMA that he could not find a new sponsor, there were no
impediments to enforcement.
No reason to why [AQ] should not have the possibility to obtain a new sponsor has
been revealed and neither has it been invoked that he has made any attempts to
obtain a new work and a new sponsor. He has not himself tried to return and neither
have there been any concrete attempts to execute him to the UAE. Thereby, it has
not been shown that any concrete impediment to enforcement exists due to a lack
of sponsor. 138
Surrendering yourself to cooperation and passivisation may thus be crucial to
the final decisions of the Court of Appeal. Thus, managing the regime also
includes creating or demanding a certain behaviour, that of the compliant and
submissive asylum seeker, the ‘good’ and ‘well-behaved’ refugee, whose agency
is only supposed to facilitate bureaucratic decisions against their own interests and
will.
Although my interlocutors were exhausted and frustrated by the inconsistencies
in the regime, many also actively sought to use the requirements on behaviour to
134 Interview with Abed (Helena Lindholm, Gothenburg, March 2020).
135 Regulation (EU) No604/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013
Establishing the Criteria and Mechanisms for Determining the Member State Responsible for
Examining an Application for International Protection Lodged in One of the Member States
by a Third-Country National or a Stateless Person [2013] OJ L 180/31.
136 Swedish Migration Agency decision, Gothenburg (March 2019) (copy on hand with author).
137 Palestinier i Mellanöstern uppehållsrätt och dokument (Report, Lifos 31 October 2018) 99;
Rättslig kommentar angående prövningen av statslösa som tidigare haft sin vanliga
vistelseort i Förenade Arabemiraten, Quatar och Saudiarabien (2020) Case No SR 16/2020
(Swedish Migration Agency).
138 Swedish Migration Agency decision, Gothenburg (2016) (copy on hand with author).
283