Euro-Med Monitor Welcomes Sweden’s Migration Minister’s Response On Asylum Seekers During Covid-19

We welcome measures undertaken by Sweden to ensure access to health care for vulnerable groups such as asylum seekers, including rejected applicants, during the Covid-19 pandemic, Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor said in a statement today.

In a response to a letter Euro-Med Monitor sent to the Swedish Government relaying our concerns regarding the increased exposure to risk of asylum seekers during the pandemic, we’ve recently received commendable reassurances from Sweden’s Migration and Justice Minister, Mr. Morgan Johansson.

Minister Johansson’s letter elaborated that appropriate measures are being taken to ensure access to “both emergency health care and health care that cannot wait” for Asylum Seekers and others. Minister Johansson’s letter further indicated that in the current exceptional situation, Sweden’s Migration Agency “has temporarily decided that former asylum seekers with a rejection on their asylum applications can keep their accommodation and their financial support even after the time for returning voluntarily has expired.”

Euro-Med Monitor’s welcomes such measures that address the safety and health of asylum seekers during the Coronavirus pandemic. We call on the Swedish government to take further steps that address the wellbeing of asylum seekers, including rejected applicants. Such steps include temporarily allowing them the right to education and work, and reevaluating their applications based on the new risks the virus poses to their lives in their home countries.

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