Report 2020:1 Those who cannot stay Implementing return policy in Sweden Those who cannot stay Implementing return policy in Sweden Henrik Malm Lindberg Report 2020:1 The Migration Studies Delegation Ju 2013:17 Delmi report 2020:1 Order: www.delmi.se E-mail:
[email protected] Printed by: Elanders Sverige AB Stockholm 2020 Cover: Ruben Rubio, Free-Photos, Pixbay ISBN: 978-91-88021-47 We promote the opportunities of migration by running a project co-financed by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund Foreword Many asylum seekers have come to Sweden during the last decades. However, since the year 2000 over 300 000 people have been denied asylum and have re- ceived a decision to return. It is not surprising that the issue of return migration has received a great deal of attention in the public debate. Even if it is hard to tell with certainty how many have returned, data from the Swedish Migration Agency show that around 60 percent of the decisions have been enforced. The legislation con- cerning the issue is clear, the person who has had their asylum application rejected will have to return within a given time frame. Both the ruling parties as well as the opposition parties have stressed the importance of having decisions enforced to a higher degree. How is it then that the difference between ambition and turn-out is so striking in the area of return policy? The issue of return is relatively unexplored within academia and existing research often has the migrant as the core of analysis. Few academic studies exami ning the issue have done so from a perspective of governance and implementation.