Understanding the implications of the refugee crisis by studying the changes in the Left and Green parties’ refugee policies : A content analysis of the Green and Left parties’ refugee policies from September 2015 to December 2015

Sammanfattning: Studies of why political parties in Sweden motivated their change of statements and policies during the refugee crisis in 2015 have been limited. I argue that it is relevant to question Swe- den’s traditional image as an open and generous country towards refugees. A change of policies took place within the traditional refugee friendly political parties in Sweden. Therefore, this thesis helps explain context for changes in the policies of the Green and Left parties during the refugee crisis 2015 in Sweden. It outlines the different policy outcomes between the Green and the Left parties and explains why two parties with initially similar positions concerning refugee issues became so markedly divided in a time of crisis. In this study, both quantitative and qual- itative methods involving content analysis and semi-structured interview techniques have been used in order to examine to what extent a change of reasoning led to different policy outcomes for the Left and Green parties. Interviews were used to gain deeper knowledge about each party’s approach towards refugees during Fall of 2015. Studies on Swedish refugee policies during the refugee crisis 2015 have either focused on 1) how refugees have been framed in news media and by politicians and 2) the socio-economic effects refugees have on Sweden because of badly managed integration policies. Less focus has been placed on how social economic reconstruction (proactive planning that allows groups from below to organize their resources) can become a powerful tool for political parties to provide solution-oriented refugee policies. Considering this unexplored area, this study analyses the Green and Left Parties’ refugee policies and how they developed during the refugee crisis by 2015. The research questions therefore relate to the change of policies of the Green and Left parties related to concepts such as solidarity and compassion for refugees and the need for greater restrictions on the number of refugees coming to Sweden through scarcity reduction and shifting budgets. The conclusion is that during the crisis, the concept of solidarity towards refugees was being tested and the debate mainly focused on quick solutions to the current crisis by restricting the number of asylum seekers through stricter laws. In contrast, policy discourse did not engage investments in solution-oriented policies with long run benefits, e.g. improving the efficiency of labor market policies to facilitate new arrivals’ labor market entry and social inclusion.