Den tillfälliga migranten : en diskursanalys av den svenska regeringens migrationspolitik.

Through a discourse analysis of Swedish proposals related to migration policy between 2004 and 2016, I have highlighted normative assumptions and dominant discourses that can be said to justify the increasingly restrictive policies that migrants meet today. The change in policy in Sweden can be seen as part of a global trend where affluent countries have closed their borders to people seeking refuge. The early proposals reveal a state-centric discourse where migrants are perceived as right holders through permanent residence permits. In recent proposals however, the state-centric perspective is strengthened, and the migrant is perceived as an intimidating figure that only can be granted rights through employment. Discourses of realism and neo-liberalism are thus feeding problem representations in which migrants are criminalised but yet seen as rational individuals with responsibility for their own destiny. Only through employment, is she no longer a potential burden on society. The UN’s aim to increase the rights of migrants is difficult to achieve with the institutional arrangements that are cemented through a realistic discourse. New political processes and institutional changes are required to ensure freedom of movement regardless of a person’s wealth or passport