In a Space of Non-existence: The Life of Afghan Undocumented Refugees in Malmö

Sammanfattning: As the ‘era of borders’ can define the structure of the present European Union and its nation-state members, the rapid increase in international migration and the high amount of refugees can reveal how today’s EU politics has come to focus on the importance of maintaining the present-day European Union and its unifying identity. In consequence to the on-going politics, it is required to lower the inflow of migrants and refugees. In relation to this, I discover how and why Afghani refugee youths make their way to Sweden and the ‘illegal’ life some of them are living. The purpose of this thesis is to uncover the complex life of Afghan undocumented refugees living in Malmö, Sweden. It examines their relation to belonging and identity within three different sociocultural spheres: the past life and experiences, the present day situation in Sweden and their connection to the activist organisations of Asylgruppen Malmö and Asylstafetten. A fourth parallel sphere, a space of non-existence, is also examined and uncovered as the primary sphere to an undocumented refugee. Though this sphere is connected to the first three spheres, it is still excluded and placed in an uncertain relation to these.