Children who have grown up with the threat of deportation carry the experience with them into later life. Researcher Jacob Lind has conducted in-depth interviews with more than 20 people in Sweden and Denmark, all young adults who have now become, to some extent, established in society.

The main question is: what is it like growing up with the threat of deportation? The participants in the study are young adults aged 16-35, 11 in Denmark and 12 in Sweden. They share the experience of having lived with the threat of deportation hanging over them for several years. Now they all have temporary or permanent residence permits, and some have become citizens.

One difference is that the Danish group lived in so-called return centres, while the Swedish participants were undocumented migrants who had stayed away from the authorities.

“I thought there were undocumented migrants in Denmark too, but there you end up completely outside society. That's why some are still living in accommodation centres, in the hope that deportation will not be possible,” says Lind, a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Global Political Studies.

Lind is also chair of the IMER Association, which has written a consultation response on the Swedish ‘Reception Act - A new law for orderly asylum reception and effective return’. The law would force many who have been rejected, but who could not be deported for various reasons, to move into return centres.

The experience from Denmark, where families can be stuck for years in accommodation without being able to cook or have access to their own toilet, should be a deterrent.

Jacob Lind

The Danish participants in his study have grown up in such accommodation. Their experiences date back 20 years. Now most of them are working or studying, those with temporary residence permits need to work even though they would rather study. Their current residence status also affects the extent they are able to move on from their childhood trauma.

"Some who have been granted permanent residence have managed to move on, but even those who are safe in this sense are scarred by having lived in the asylum centres. They describe their childhood as being marred with violence and insecurity," says Lind. 

“The children's activities at the centres were good, but at the same time they had to see their parents walking around like zombies. Several mourn the fact that they did not have a normal childhood,” adds Lind.

English text by Wilma Haneke Brodd 

Text: Communications Department