Anmälningsplikt eller angiverilag? En kvalitativ tematisk analys om hur irreguljära migranter konstrueras som ett socialt problem och säkerhetshot i debatten om Tidöavtalet i svensk nyhetspress

Sammanfattning: The aim of this study is to investigate the construction of irregular migrants as a social problem and a security threat in the Swedish news press. Specifically, it examines discussions around the motion that obligates welfare actors to report encounters with irregular migrants to Swedish authorities. The study also investigates how the motion and the debaters are constructed in this debate. We examined fifty opinion-forming texts about this subject, such as editorials and debate articles, published in various Swedish newspapers during 2023. We used a thematic analysis method where we analyzed our opinion forming-texts by coding and establishing themes and subthemes within the chosen texts. The theories used when analyzing the material were Edelman’s theory on the political spectacle and constructions in media and Buzan, Wæver & de Wildes securitization theory about international relations and security issues. The results of our study identified two main discourses on how the debaters viewed irregular migrants. The first perspective viewed irregular migrants as a threat to Swedish society and as political enemies, whereas the second viewed them as victims. These two differences affected how the motion was constructed. Furthermore, the debaters were constructed as political leaders and enemies. In conclusion, the motion was analyzed as part of a security discourse and irregular migrants were constructed as a social problem and a security issue.