Response to interpellation 2022/23:59 on Ukrainian refugees forced into prostitution
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
M considers it reasonable that Ukrainian refugees have fewer benefits than others because they are covered by the mass flight directive 1. M argues that the refugees have the right to work, studies, social introduction, and the opportunity for Swedish from day one 1 2 3 4. M emphasizes that the police work against human trafficking and that people should not be deported solely because they have ended up in a vulnerable position 2. M acknowledges that the economic situation is extremely difficult 3. M considers it reasonable to follow the regulations for asylum seekers given that it is a temporary protection 4. MP considers that the support should include tolerable living conditions 5 and that refugees should have the same rights to healthcare, Swedish, and establishment measures as all other refugees 5.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Statsrådet Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)
Madam Speaker! Annika Hirvonen has asked me what measures I intend to take within my area of responsibility to prevent women who have fled the war in Ukraine from being exploited in prostitution and whether I and the government intend to proceed with the Tidö Agreement's proposal to deport persons who are exploited in prostitution. Annika Hirvonen has also asked me how I and the government intend to ensure that Ukrainian women and children who have fled to Sweden will be able to afford winter clothes and shoes, and whether I and the government will promptly ensure that Ukrainian refugees who have been granted protection under the mass flight directive receive the same right to sfi, healthcare, establishment measures, and establishment allowance as other refugees who receive residence permits in Sweden and when the right to sfi in that case will be granted. Finally, Annika Hirvonen has asked me whether I and the government intend to increase the daily allowance.
Madam Speaker! Persons exploited in prostitution are in a vulnerable situation. They are also often exposed to crime, for example, human trafficking for sexual purposes. Due to the refugee situation linked to the war in Ukraine, several Swedish authorities have taken special measures to counter human trafficking and other forms of exploitation.
In accordance with the Tidö Agreement, the government intends to appoint an inquiry which shall, among other things, analyze the conditions for reintroducing the possibility of deporting foreigners due to lack of integrity and, to the extent such a possibility exists, submit legislative proposals. According to the Tidö Agreement, lack of integrity refers, for example, to association with a criminal organization, network, or clan, prostitution, substance abuse, and participation in violent or extremist organizations or environments that threaten fundamental Swedish values. What can form the basis for deportation due to lack of integrity shall be determined by the inquiry.
Those in need of protection from Ukraine are covered, as a starting point, by the mass influx directive. The directive establishes minimum standards for providing temporary protection in the event of a massive influx of displaced persons. The temporary protection applies for a limited period, at most three years. It is against that background that it is reasonable that the benefits linked to residence permits with temporary protection according to the mass influx directive differ from other residence permits.
The starting point is that those in need of protection from Ukraine should work to the greatest extent possible. Those who lack their own means are, however, entitled to assistance according to the Act on Reception of Asylum Seekers etc., the so-called LMA, in the form of housing, daily allowance, and special grants. The daily allowance shall be sufficient for, among other things, food, clothing, and consumables. The person who is in need of something that is not covered by the daily allowance can apply for a special grant, for example for warm winter shoes. The Swedish Migration Agency makes an individual assessment of the need for a special grant in each individual case. There is currently no proposal to increase the daily allowance.
Those in need of protection from Ukraine have the right to acute care and care that cannot be delayed, but also maternity care and abortion care, etc. Children and young people under 18 years of age have the right to the same care as residents here in the country. Children and young people also have the right to education in preschool, preschool class, primary school, after-school care, and upper secondary school if the education is started before they have turned 18. Those in need of protection from Ukraine have the opportunity to participate in a number of interventions aimed at supporting language learning and knowledge of Swedish society and contributing to people getting into work. They do not, however, currently have the right to SFI.
In summary, Sweden assists those in need of protection from Ukraine in a number of different ways. The Government intends to ensure that this continues in the future and follows the issue of the need for additional support and measures for Ukrainian persons in need of protection closely.
Annika Hirvonen (MP)
Mr. Speaker! The Ukrainian refugees who receive protection in Sweden with the support of the mass flight directive have in many ways a much simpler escape than many of the other refugees that Sweden has received - those who have risked their lives in the Mediterranean to save their lives.
But what many do not know, and something that we in Miljöpartiet view very seriously, is that once the Ukrainian refugees have received protection in Sweden, they have substantially worse conditions than everyone else who receives a residence permit in Sweden because they have sought protection. They do not have the right to SFI or adult education. Adults do not have the right to care in all situations. They do not have the right to establishment allowance or establishment measures to get help to enter employment. Miljöpartiet considers that this is wrong.
Furthermore, the compensation that asylum seekers and the Ukrainian refugees are expected to live on is completely absurdly low. They fall below the poverty line. 71 kronor a day is not enough for an adult to be able to eat their fill at today's price levels and also afford clothes, hygiene products, and other things. Can you live on 71 kronor a day? I want everyone to calculate that. For a teenager, the compensation is 50 kronor a day. Anyone who has ever tried to ensure there was enough food for a growing young boy probably understands that 50 kronor does not go very far.
The daily allowance has not been adjusted in 29 years. Only the recent inflation should lead to taking action on the problem. We in Miljöpartiet have proposed both a powerful increase of the daily allowance and that the Ukrainian refugees should receive the same rights as everyone else.
It really chafes when we, on the one hand, have a government that says Ukraine is what is prioritized highest. We have broad agreement that is the case when it comes to arms deliveries and other aid to those who are now on the ground and for the war at the front against Russia's unjust invasion. But then it chafes when these soldiers' wives and children, who have sought refuge here in Sweden, on the other hand, are to live in poverty.
Recently, P4 Malmöhus reported on an alarming increase in the number of Ukrainian refugees being exploited in prostitution in Sweden. It is pointed out that the vulnerable situation that it entails to have protection under the mass flight directive is a factor behind why so many Ukrainian refugees who are subject to prostitution have been encountered.
The only thing that exists in the Tidö Agreement when it comes to work against prostitution is that it should be possible to deport people due to lack of conduct. We in Miljöpartiet find that appalling, and we would like the Migration Minister to clearly state that no women shall be sent back to Ukraine because they are being exploited in prostitution.
Statsrådet Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)
Mr. Speaker! I think it showed an enormous strength in the EU cooperation when the EU's countries so quickly activated the mass exodus directive, which has never been activated before, and provided protection to millions of Ukrainians who fled Putin's despicable war.
In Sweden, the Ukrainians have the same rights as asylum seekers. They have the right to work, and they have the right to study. Much is also being done so that the Ukrainians who have come to Sweden can enter employment and become socially included, and I think it is unfortunate when one chooses to completely ignore the important efforts that are actually being made.
It is about, for example, the social introduction, which it is mandatory for the Swedish Migration Agency to provide and which is given in Ukrainian, Russian, or English. It is about the Ukrainians having access to Swedish from day one, which is a public education initiative carried out by study associations and folk high schools. In the budget bill, the government proposes a total of 30 million kronor for the initiative for the year 2023.
Through the EU initiative Care, remaining funds within the Social Fund program for 2014-2020, totaling 885 million kronor, can be used during 2022 and 2023 for measures for persons covered by the mass influx directive.
Persons who have been granted a residence permit with temporary protection according to the mass influx directive can also apply to study at a university or college. They do not need to pay an application fee or tuition fee. Many want to work and choose to do so. Finally, we must also not forget the fantastic efforts made by many volunteers.
It is a special regulation that applies to the Ukrainians. It is about the fact that we should be able to very quickly grant residence permits for those fleeing the war in our vicinity. It is therefore reasonable that one refers to a different set of rules than those that apply to those who have come here and sought asylum in a regular manner, but it is clear that the government is following the issue very closely.
When it comes to the issue of prostitution, the Swedish Police Authority initiated a special operation in connection with the war in Ukraine. The Border Police are actively working on the issue, and the police initiated special operations against human trafficking in Region Stockholm and Region Syd.
Information in English and Ukrainian is distributed to arrivals at the Swedish border crossings. The purpose is to spread information on what arrivals can do to reduce the risk of being subjected to human trafficking, but also on how they should act if they are subjected to it.
According to Noa, the police's national operational department, 29 police reports were filed during the period from February 24 to October 31 that can be linked to people who have fled from Ukraine or who have been stranded in Sweden since before the war. The preliminary investigations that are still ongoing concern brokering, human trafficking, and human exploitation.
In addition to individuals being exploited in prostitution, labor exploitation is also seen, where industries such as green trade, cleaning, and berry picking dominate. Of the 29 reports, 21 have been dropped due to lack of evidence or because the complainant did not want to cooperate in a criminal investigation.
According to new information from Europol, however, there are very few confirmed cases of human trafficking linked to Ukraine. The Swedish police's view is also that it is not primarily the Ukrainian women seeking protection in Sweden who end up in prostitution. The Ukrainian women who are in prostitution in Sweden have arrived here in the same way as we have previously seen when it has concerned women from, for example, Romania or certain countries in Africa.
People in prostitution are in very great vulnerability in most cases. I have been clear in previous debates, and I want to be so here as well, that one should not be deported for lack of integrity solely because of the fact that one has ended up in a vulnerable position.
Annika Hirvonen (MP)
Mr. Speaker! I share Maria Malmer Stenergård's view that the starting point, of course, is that most people want to work and support themselves through work. That is also my impression when I meet refugees from Ukraine and other countries.
We know that it is very difficult to get a job in Sweden without having access to basic knowledge of the Swedish language. That is why SFI, Swedish for Immigrants, is such a central part of the integration policy. The Swedish language is the key to getting a job; it is not enough to have the right to apply for a job on paper.
It is a problem that we have now had refugees from Ukraine in Sweden for nearly a year without these refugees having had the right to SFI. When I was at a election debate at Nordic Ukraine Forum in August, the Moderaterna Member of Parliament said that Moderaterna want Ukrainian refugees to have the right to SFI. I want to ask Maria Malmer Stenergard if the Moderaterna Member of Parliament in that case did not speak the truth.
The Moderates have now taken over government power and have had several months to take measures. Today, Maria Malmer Stenergard could at least provide an announcement that in the future a proposal will be made that Ukrainian refugees shall also have the right to SFI – because it is needed. People, especially refugees, who live in unemployment and do not get a job need to get access to meaningful employment and the key that the Swedish language actually represents for both participating in society and being able to support themselves.
Self-sufficiency is completely central, especially when the alternative is to live below the poverty line, at 71 kronor a day. That is not enough. Even though I welcome and praise the efforts from Europol and the Swedish police to put a stop to human exploitation, we must also ensure that we combat the poverty that the Ukrainian women and children live under when the daily allowance is as low as 71 kronor a day for an adult and 50 kronor a day for a teenager. To cook food for that money and also be able to afford clothes is not realistic for any of us, nor for the refugees.
It is also not worthy of a country like Sweden. We are the country in the Nordic region that has the worst conditions for Ukrainian refugees. The Mass Flight Directive does not prevent us from giving the Ukrainian refugees the right to sfi, the right to healthcare, and a livelihood that is livable. Other EU countries manage this. We have also seen how refugees have left Sweden to instead settle in other countries that have conditions that are more worthy to grow up in if one is a family with children.
I wonder if it is perhaps the case that this government's view on migration is shining through, that one actually thinks it would be quite good if Ukrainian refugees did not want to seek protection in Sweden.
Mr. Speaker! I have noted that the government does not want to raise the level of the daily allowance and does not want to give Ukrainian refugees the right to Sfi, despite having promised it before the election.
Statsrådet Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)
Mr. Speaker! It is exactly as Annika Hirvonen says: It is an extremely difficult economic situation for the Ukrainian refugees, and also for other asylum seekers who live on daily allowances. There are also many others in Swedish society who, in these times with rising prices and a tougher situation on the labor market, are having a very hard time. This is a development that the government is following very closely.
I want to be very clear, however, that the Swedish government stands behind Ukraine and the Ukrainian people one hundred percent. That is also what we show, not least through all the support we send to Ukraine - including humanitarian support.
The regulatory framework that applies to the Ukrainians is not a regulatory framework that we ourselves have implemented. It was implemented by the Social Democratic government. But that being said, we are, of course, following the matter very closely.
It also bears mentioning once again that we are doing a lot to ensure that the Ukrainians will have the opportunity to enter the workforce and be socially included through the social fund program. We provide the opportunity for Swedish from day one, which can also be accessed digitally if it is not available in the municipality where one is residing.
Of course the Swedish language is important in order to enter the labor market, but we also see that many, despite not having it with them, succeed in getting a foot in the door on the labor market. Many have very high ambitions, and I think that is incredibly pleasing.
Annika Hirvonen (MP)
Mr. Speaker! It is fantastic what efforts civil society and also folkbildningen have made here.
When we in Miljöpartiet ensured the introduction of Swedish from day one, it was as a complement where the public sector does not offer education within the framework of adult education. But here, there is a choice. The new government can choose to let society, the public sector, give the Ukrainian refugees the same rights as all other refugees who receive residence permits in Sweden. It is possible for the government.
I want to ask once again whether it was true that the Moderaternas perception was that Ukrainian refugees would be entitled to SFI. This was, as I said, promised by the Moderaterna in a debate at the Nordic Ukraine Forum in August. This is a very important issue that affects many people.
We in Miljöpartiet believe that the support for the Ukrainian people should also include decent living conditions for the refugees that Sweden has received. We believe it is important that the children who have lost their homes, who have been separated from fathers and other family members, and who have been torn from their preschools and schools should not be forced to live in poverty in cases where voluntary organizations' efforts are not sufficient and where parents cannot enter the workforce because they do not have access to the Swedish language.
I urge the government to act. Ukrainian refugees should have the same rights to healthcare, Swedish healthcare for immigrants and establishment measures as all other refugees who receive protection in Sweden.
Statsrådet Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)
Mr. Speaker! I was, to answer Annika Hirvonen's question, the migration policy spokesperson for the Moderaterna before I became Migration Minister. The Moderaterna did not promise before the election that the daily allowance would be increased. We are, as said, now following the issue very closely and are well aware that it is a difficult economic situation.
It has not yet, but soon, been a year since the war broke out. We hope and ask everyone that it will soon end.
Given that it is a temporary protection being granted, it has been judged that it is reasonable to follow the regulatory framework that applies to asylum seekers. As time passes, there will of course be reason to look more closely at the question of which levels should apply.
I want to emphasize once again that an incredible amount is being done, both from the public sector and from fantastic heroes in civil society, to help the Ukrainians in every possible way. From the public sector, healthcare, school, education, social introduction, and Swedish are provided from day one. Different parts of the social fund program are used for measures for persons covered by the mass flight directive, for social inclusion, and for opportunities for work. They also have the opportunity to study at universities or colleges.
I really appreciate Annika Hirvonen's genuine commitment to the issue and want to assure her that the government stands behind her in that commitment. As said, we will follow this issue.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.