The uneven geography of migration

Research Project, 2018 – 2019

From 1 March 2016, designated municipalities are required to arrange accommodation for refugees who have been granted residence permits (Act 2016: 38). It is the County Administrative Board which decides on how many refugees each municipality should accept and has the overall responsibility for regional coordination of the planning, organising and arranging of accommodation for newcomers. The time from designation to established accommodation may not exceed two months. The aim of the law is, according to the Swedish Migration Agency, to provide a fairer distribution of refugees in the country and also create better conditions for refugees to enter the community and the labour market. The purpose of the two sub-studies outlined here is to examine how three municipalities in the Västra Götaland Region have addressed and handled their responsibilities, and what consequences the new law has had regarding spatial inclusion of refugees. Is it reasonable to conclude that the law has led to increased justice? If so, for whom? In part 1 we focus on two municipalities with decreasing population, and in part 2 we study the regional core Gothenburg.