More and more people find themselves displaced around the world. Last autumn, the number of people that sought refuge in Sweden grew at a rapid pace. It placed a great strain on the intake system. To improve the situation, the Centre Party took part in an autumn agreement between the government and the four Alliance parties. The agreement contained, among other things, more legal ways to seek protection and important measures so that people can quickly establish themselves in society.

Shortly thereafter, the government chose to put forward new, far-reaching proposals that will make it harder for people to seek protection in Sweden and will keep families divided. The proposals go much further than the agreement that the government and Alliance parties came to. They are about making migration policy as restrictive as possible. The goal is that those in need of protection should be shut out. That is the sort of policy we have to take a position on in the Riksdag. The government has put forward its proposals. We, in the Centre Party, choose a different path.

The government’s measures mean that most of those given protection in Sweden will not be allowed to reunite with their families. Only a minority of those granted asylum – those granted a three-year permit on security grounds – will have the right to family reunification. People who flee from war will lose the right to be reunited with their family members. Only one in ten Syrians granted protection in Sweden are given refugee status, very few compared to the picture in other EU countries. In practice, no Syrians will have the possibility of legally living with their family during the three-year period for which the law change has been proposed.