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13 - A Stable Yet Fragile System?
- from Part III - Resilience at the National Level: Case Studies
- Edited by Vladislava Stoyanova, Lunds Universitet, Sweden, Stijn Smet, Hasselt Universiteit, Belgium
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- Book:
- Migrants' Rights, Populism and Legal Resilience in Europe
- Published online:
- 19 May 2022
- Print publication:
- 02 June 2022, pp 330-354
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Summary
This chapter investigates the role of ‘crisis’ narratives in the incremental undermining of migrants’ rights. It argues that the right-wing populist politics of Sweden Democrats, not least in their narrative of migration as a ‘crisis’, have had a considerable impact on migration discourse and policy in Sweden. As radical-right ideas have become normalized, limitations on migrant rights appear to be regarded as much less problematic by mainstream political parties. At the same time, the Swedish constitutional system promotes a set of core values that, taken together, provide for legal resilience. Although there are weaknesses built into the system, such as the relatively limited system of judicial review and the limited scope of fundamental rights included in the Constitution, core values such as independence of the administration and transparency of the legislative process are powerful tools to prevent anti-democratic and anti-pluralist parties from pushing through their ideas. It is thus suggested that the inherent inertia of the administrative system and the legislative process is a key element of legal resilience against rights erosion, for migrants as well as for other vulnerable groups.
Incorporating the CRC in Sweden
- Edited by Ursula Kilkelly, Laura Lundy, Bronagh Byrne
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- Book:
- Incorporating the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into National Law
- Published by:
- Intersentia
- Published online:
- 10 December 2021
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- 25 June 2021, pp 205-230
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INTRODUCTION
For many years now, Sweden has been viewed as a country that is heavily committed to the development and protection of children’s rights, so much so that the country is sometimes referred to as one of the best countries in which to be a child. The idea of the child as an autonomous individual with special rights and needs, and the legal and policy reforms that follow from this idea progressively developed in Swedish society, alongside the Swedish welfare state, during the course of the twentieth century. As Sandin points out, children were at the centre of progressive welfare policy, with many of the measures implemented focusing on children and/or the family. Examples of such measures include paid maternity leave, a daycare system catering to the needs of all children, and state protection against abuse, including the 1979 ban on corporal punishment.
Against this background, it is no surprise that Sweden was similarly committed to the development of a treaty on the human rights of children. Sweden played an active part in the draft ing process of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (hereinafter CRC or ‘the Convention’) and ratified it in 1990. Sweden has also ratified the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict and the Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography. However, it has yet to ratify the Optional Protocol on a Communications Procedure.
In the decades following the ratification of the CRC, there was a continuing debate about whether Sweden should incorporate the Convention into national law. On 1 January 2020, the treaty was finally incorporated into Swedish law. This chapter aims to provide a background to the Swedish debate on the incorporation of the CRC, an overview of the current legal status of the Convention in Swedish law, and a discussion of the impact that the CRC has had since becoming national law.
COUNTRY OVERVIEW AND CONTEXT
GENERAL OVERVIEW
Sweden has a population of about 10.3 million people, 19.6 per cent of whom were born outside of Sweden. In 2019, there were approximately 2.2 million children (those aged 0–17 years), making up 21.1 per cent of the total population. The age of majority is 18. Children start their ten years of compulsory schooling at the age of six.
The Image of the Vulnerable Migrant Child in Recent ECtHR and CRC Committee Case Law
- Edited by Philip Czech, Lisa Heschl, Karin Lukas, Manfred Nowak, Gerd Oberleitner
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- Book:
- European Yearbook on Human Rights 2020
- Published by:
- Intersentia
- Published online:
- 11 February 2021
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- 01 December 2020, pp 233-256
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ABSTRACT
Children are often described as vulnerable, with migrant children often being seen as a particularly vulnerable group. How this vulnerability is understood and interpreted, however, varies. This contribution analyses recent jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child and the images of vulnerable migrant children presented therein, with particular focus on undocumented migrant children. A conclusion drawn from the analysis is that the two bodies adopt slightly different approaches to the concept of vulnerability, with the CRC Committee emphasising a contextual approach to vulnerability, and the ECtHR adopting a more traditional approach to children as being inherently vulnerable due to their status as children.
INTRODUCTION
It is estimated that around 5,250 unaccompanied minors are currently (May 2020) stuck in Greek refugee camps, with the actual number of children in refugee camps in the country being considerably higher in total. On 15 April 2020, 12 children, all unaccompanied minors, were relocated from the Greek islands to Luxembourg. The following day, another 47 unaccompanied minors were relocated from Greece to Germany. These children were the first to be relocated under an initiative taken by the European Union (EU) to move around 1,600 unaccompanied children from the refugee camps in Greece to other EU Member States, in which, at the time of writing, ten Member States have agreed to participate. The initiative is a response to the pleas of the Greek government in September 2019 for additional support and solidarity in managing the difficult situation in Greece for refugees and migrants, including unaccompanied children.
In July 2019, the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants issued an end-of-visit statement following his visit to Hungary. The aim of the visit was to assess Hungarian laws, policies and practices concerning migration governance and the impact on migrants’ human rights. The Special Rapporteur noted with concern that migration governance in Hungary is dominated by a security-oriented approach and that little consideration is made for the human rights of migrants, including children. In the report, the Special Rapporteur described how asylum seekers and migrants, irrespective of age, are confined in particular transit zones for the duration of their asylum procedure, a practice referred to as qualifying as detention in nature.