Sweden’s unveiled asylum process : Beyond the dichotomies of citizenship and non-citizenship

Abstract: This thesis aims to bring to light the perceptions of mentalities of government through the eyes of unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors in Sweden. It also seeks to offer some insight and reflections from a custodian perspective. Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children that come to Sweden are entitled to the same rights as the children holding citizenships in Sweden. The right to be heard and listened to is enshrined in the Convention of the Rights of the Child and holds great value during the asylum-process. Thus, the enforcement of these rights, among other rights, shows to be challenging in practice when scrutinizing the asylum process. With a pluralistic theoretical approach, leaning on the works of Hannah Arendt and Jacques Derrida, along with the narratives shared by the informants, this study aims to uncover the probabilities of feeling helpless during the asylum process, it also seeks to explore how mechanisms of power relations and control are configured according to the informants. Most laws regarding securing rights for refugees are formed by international organizations and constituted by national politicians. These laws operate to gain control at the hand of legality, thus the restrictiveness has been at the expense of the child’s best interest. As I believe more initiatives should be taken within the field of migration policy, by having unaccompanied asylum-seeking children as the point of departure, this study is an endeavor to help give them a voice.