Sweden's New Resettlement Policy: Introducing Gender and Gender Equality as Governing Tools in Migration Governance
Abstract
In 2022, Sweden introduced new refugee selection guidelines prioritizing women and girls—a departure from earlier practices focused solely on vulnerability. Through a problem representation analysis, this article examines parliamentary motions on resettlement from 2015 to 2022, exploring how gender, im/mobility, religion, and vulnerability shape notions of deservingness. It argues that gender is—intentionally or not—used as a governance tool, reflecting a broader migration policy shift of not only framing men and asylum seekers as a problem but creating the grounds for weakening rights-based approaches in favour of a more humanitarian approach to migration governance driven by compassion but also control.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Migration
Refugees
and Integration
Gender and Women's Rights
Racism
and Human Rights
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Refuge Canada s Journal on Refuge
- Volume
- 42
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 1–18
- Publication date
- 28 January 2026
- Language
- EN