This essay aims to illustrate how a country like Sweden, that seems to be driven by humanism, can potentially act in a way that is completely different to their humanitarian image. This is illustrated by exploring the problematic features of the migration process Eritreans face in Sweden today, that requires them to seek out Eritrean embassies in order to obtain identity documents. This has been accomplished through a text analysis of the international regulations that are being violated in the Eritrean case. The result has then been analyzed and explained with the help of a framework based on Gidden’s structuration theory. The research shows that there has been a violation of human rights, the Refugee Convention as well as a UN resolution. The structuration theory explains this as a result of binding laws that constitute the structure of society, but the Swedish Migration Agency’s conduct in the Eritrean case also works as a form of reinforcement of the structure today. In other words, the structure is a prerequisite and a result of the agency’s action.

The control of the eritrean refugees and the diaspora-tax in SwedenThe purpose of this thesis was to study how the Eritrean government successfully mobilizedand extracted the 2% tax from the diaspora that left the country in protest of its governance.The chosen group of the diaspora, has been the eritreans who left Eritrea after the politicalcrisis in 2001 and currently live in Sweden. Twelve semi-structured interviews wereconducted and the material was analyzed with the theoretical framework of transnationalism.The empirical findings were analyzed with a thematic analysis where three themes wereidentified. The study showed that the Eritrean government controls the diaspora by usingdifferent tools and threats to silence them and to contribute with taxes. The members of thediaspora who are not able to meet the requirements of the government including paying thediaspora tax, are perceived as traitors. Furthermore, they are isolated and live under constantpressure in an insecure environment, while those who contribute with taxes are seen asheroes. Additionally, the government has implemented trust issues among diaspora inSweden, where some members work by reporting to the embassy in order to earn respect andbetter services.