Väntrummet : Bilden av Sverige ur asylsökandes perspektiv

Sammanfattning: The essay Väntrummet was created with the aim of investigating how young asylum seekers' spatial perception of Sweden as a receiving country is affected by the state of limbo that arises as a result of the Migration Agency's long processing times. The focus of this essay is to illuminate the image of Sweden as a complex geographical space and its change "before" and "after" arrival. The research questions in this essay focuses on how people's lives are affected by the Migration Agency's long processing time and how the image of Sweden as a place is changed by the long wait. The essay's empirical material consists of three stories from people who left their homelands in the Middle East to settle permanently in Sweden in order to create a better life for themselves. The empirical material is analyzed based on Henri Lefebvre's spatial triad and discussed based on the theoretical starting points of the perceived space, representations of space and the representational space.  The essay shows that the image of Sweden among the asylum seekers is changing and thus the desire to stay is decreasing, as a result of the Migration Agency's long processing times. The informants feel that they are not treated as equals and not being treated with respected in their application process, something that has negative effects on the image of Sweden as a recipient country. The consequences of this for Sweden can result in the asylum seekers not integrating into the Swedish society but instead living in an alienated society. Which means that the asylum seekers do not find it meaningful to learn the language or find a job. It can also has far-reaching consequences which means that the asylum seekers, according to the respondents' statements, will leave Sweden as soon as they have obtained Swedish citizenship, which in turn means great financial losses for Sweden's economy.