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Social workers challenged by irregular migration

The issues of undocumented migrants and deportations of unaccompanied minors have increasingly become a challenge in social work. Vanna Nordling’s doctoral dissertation is a study of how social workers handle their role as on the one hand support workers but also representatives of institutions of control.

How did the social workers you interviewed negotiate being support workers and civil servants, as well as having to aid the police in deportation cases?

“They found it difficult for example to have long-term responsibility for and engagement in a child’s welfare, but suddenly having to drop that from one day to the next when the Migration Agency made a decision to deport, change the age, or move the minor to a different city. This becomes a professional ethical dilemma, raising moral and political concerns. In Sweden today, we can see that social workers are reacting to these predicaments and organising in initiatives such as ‘Vi star inte ut’ (We can’t stand it).”

Can you see any solutions to the tension implicit in these double positions?

I think we need to consider the question in broader terms and think about what kind of society we want, and then think of what kind of social work we want. Social work involves the most vulnerable groups in society, but the issue of responsibility is brought to a head when some of the most vulnerable groups, in this case undocumented migrant, aren’t granted access. I hope my dissertation can be one of many tools in this discussion, not least by highlighting the dilemmas which surface in relation to the undocumented.

You have also studied the city of Malmö, which in 2014 included undocumented migrants in the guidelines on social assistance. Why do you think this decision was made?

At the time, it wasn’t seen as very controversial.  It was seen as a clarification of current rules and legal praxis: anyone living in the city is entitled to an individual assessment for emergency aid. Politicians were more focused on issues such as strengthening the child perspective. I think that this happening in Malmö specifically needs to be seen in light of the fact that these vulnerable groups are simply more visible there than in many other cities. Civil society and municipal workers came in contact with these individuals and that lead to practitioners raising the issue and making sure it was dealt with.

Now Vannäs, a small town in the north of Sweden, which refused benefits to an undocumented family, has won the case in the supreme court. What does this mean for the social worker’s future handling of these cases?

Local politicians and lawyers are still discussing how this verdict is to be understood. The municipalities are responsible, but supporting undocumented migrants is questioned by certain politicians and I am sure this verdict will lead to even more discussion. I think it is an example of how the conditions of social work change in relation to the times, the local context, and the dominating political discourse.

 

Text and photo: Ulrika Oredsson