A Handbook for Asylum seekers in sweden - Tema asyl & integration

Asylumwww.migrationsverket.seDefinitionsWhat is asylum (asyl)?Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) states that“Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum frompersecution.” An asylum seeker hence is a person who has left his country andsought asylum in another country and who is still waiting for a decision on hisapplication for asylum. The right to seek asylum, however, does not necessarilyimply that the person has an absolute right to get asylum. Eligibility is determinedafter undergoing a careful investigation of the applications submitted bythe asylum seekers. Asylum seekers are different from economic migrants.Who is a refugee (flykting)?Article 1 (A) of the 1951 Convention relating to the status of Refugees states thata refugee is any person who “owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted forreasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group orpolitical opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owingto such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country…”This article is implemented in the Swedish Aliens Act, and a person satisfyingthese criteria is called a convention refugee. Sweden has also added sex and sexualdisposition as ground for granting refugee status.A refugee is also someone who is stateless and who, for the same reason, isoutside the country of his or her habitual residence and who is unable or unwillingto return due to such fear as stated above.Who needs protection (skyddsbehövande)?According to the Swedish Aliens Act, persons who are found not to be “convention”refugees under the 1951 Refugees Convention may qualify for subsidiaryprotection under a category known as ‘persons otherwise in need of protection– skyddsbehövande i övrigt’. This includes those that have left their native countryand have good reason to fear capital punishment, torture, other inhuman or degradingtreatment or punishment, and people in need of protection due to war(internal/external) or an environmental disaster in their native country.A Handbook for Asylum Seekers in Sweden | 9