Asylum seekers 'should live near jobs'
A Moderate Party working group has proposed withdrawing economic support for asylum seekers in Sweden who choose to live in municipalities where they can’t support themselves or where large numbers of asylum seekers already live.
The proposal comes from the Moderates’ working group on social exclusion and segregation and is seen as a new way to push asylum seekers to live in places which provide better access to jobs and housing, writes the Dagens Nyheter (DN) newspaper.
“Changes to the rules for welfare benefits will at this stage only affect asylum seekers. But in the future it may be appropriate to have the change cover job seekers who move where there are no jobs available,” said working group spokesman Ulf Kristersson to DN.
The question of whether asylum seekers should be free to choose where they live while their cases are heard, or whether they should be assigned to certain areas, has been under discussion for several years.
Some Moderate politicians from municipalities with high unemployment and many asylum seekers want to go a step further and jettison rules which allow asylum seekers to choose where they want to live.
Normally people move in with friends or relatives who are already living in Sweden.
Fredrick Federley of the Centre Party doubts whether the proposed change would have any effect.
“All the available evidence suggests that people would rather choose to work under the table than to move,” he said.
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The proposal comes from the Moderates’ working group on social exclusion and segregation and is seen as a new way to push asylum seekers to live in places which provide better access to jobs and housing, writes the Dagens Nyheter (DN) newspaper.
“Changes to the rules for welfare benefits will at this stage only affect asylum seekers. But in the future it may be appropriate to have the change cover job seekers who move where there are no jobs available,” said working group spokesman Ulf Kristersson to DN.
The question of whether asylum seekers should be free to choose where they live while their cases are heard, or whether they should be assigned to certain areas, has been under discussion for several years.
Some Moderate politicians from municipalities with high unemployment and many asylum seekers want to go a step further and jettison rules which allow asylum seekers to choose where they want to live.
Normally people move in with friends or relatives who are already living in Sweden.
Fredrick Federley of the Centre Party doubts whether the proposed change would have any effect.
“All the available evidence suggests that people would rather choose to work under the table than to move,” he said.
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