Sweden to grant Ukrainians fast-track registration, better benefits
Ukrainian refugees under temporary protection in Sweden will be able to register much faster and receive a higher settlement allowance, the Swedish government announced on Monday, much to the dismay of the far right.
The 40,000 or so Ukrainian refugees living in Sweden will have access to earlier registration in the population register than the basic rule, Swedish Migration Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard told a press conference.
“It will be a significant improvement for this group when they have been here for twelve months. I am very happy that we are moving forward with these changes,” she said.
According to the Swedish government, about 33,000 Ukrainians will be registered as of 1 November this year and will be entitled to better help in entering the labour market through the Employment Agency’s establishment programme.
This also includes the right to basic sickness and parental benefits and, as well as full rights to health and dental care.
The government also announced at the press conference that the Ukrainian refugees in Sweden will also be able to receive a settlement allowance of SEK 308 (€30) per day instead of the SEK 71 (€7) this autumn.
Some exceptions remain, as Ukrainian refugees will not be entitled to child or housing benefits, for example, while many will continue to live on SEK 71 a day until their stay in the country exceeds twelve months.
However, according to the Swedish Red Cross, the government’s proposal fails to address the many challenges Ukrainian refugees face on a daily basis, calling it “lame” and “inadequate”.
“As the proposal is designed today, the initial reception is still deficient, not least in terms of the low daily allowance,” Karin Ödquist Drackner, asylum and migration advisor at the Swedish Red Cross told Euractiv.
“It would have been better, both for the individuals and the authorities, if the (Ukrainian) group had been treated in the same way as other people who have been granted a residence permit in Sweden and thus have access to all the benefits of the population register, ” she added.
While the Christian Democrats (CD/EPP) wanted to raise the daily allowance for Ukrainian refugees even further, the far-right Sweden Democrats (SD) say the increase to SEK 308 (€30) is already too much.
“For people who have lived in Sweden for a long time, it is clear that SEK 71 a day is tricky, but they have food and a room. So the basic needs are already covered. These SEK 71 are for sweets, things like that,” SD spokesman Ludvid Aspling said on Tuesday.
The law will come into force on 1 November 2024, and the government’s proposal is estimated to increase public spending by SEK 137.6 million (€13.4 million) in 2024, and SEK 1.4 billion (€137 million) the following year.
(Charles Szumski | Euractiv.com)
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