Family reunification is a unique research field currently impacted by shifting policies andattitudes on integration. In Sweden, family connections constitute the largest immigrationcategory, yet the wait for family reunification has not yet been examined within academia.Thus, the aim of this thesis is to explore former asylum seekers’ experiences of waiting forfamily reunification in Sweden. Taking place at all stages of the migratory process, elementswithin waiting include time perception, power relations, expectations, future, hope,uncertainty and activity. Forming the theoretical framework of this thesis, six semi-structuredinterviews with former asylum seekers from Syria are analyzed in relation to waiting andmigration. The findings suggest that waiting stretches across legal statuses and entailsdifferent perceptions of time, differing from the linear bureaucratic model provided by theSwedish Migration Agency. Family reunification is the future goal of the informants’ wait,asylum being a temporal marker on the way there. The wait encompasses a power relation inwhich several actors in Sweden and abroad affect expectations, outcome and duration of thewait. Uncertainty in terms of duration and outcome affect informants’ well-being negatively.With distrust in the procedures of the Swedish Migration Agency, the process is experiencedas unjust, especially when others receive decisions ahead of time. While passivity constitutesparts of the wait, activity in terms of physical action such as going to work and mentalmonitoring of one’s case are present. Finally, waiting for family reunification is a highlyaffective form of waiting entailing emotions and care, influencing the relation to the family inwaiting abroad.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:mau-21957 |
| Date | January 2018 |
| Creators | Gustafsson, Hilda |
| Publisher | Malmö universitet, Fakulteten för kultur och samhälle (KS), Malmö universitet/Kultur och samhälle |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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