Pathways to the Labour Market for Persons with Disabilities and Forced Migration Experience in Sweden and Germany

Sammanfattning: The intersection of forced migration and disability is often overlooked, both in research, public discourse and political action. Building on the emerging literature looking at the situation in host countries and against the backdrop of the increasing focus on employment in both asylum and disability contexts, the thesis explores the access to the labour market for persons with disabilities and forced migration experience in Sweden and Germany. In order to answer the question of how pathways to the labour market for persons with disabilities and forced migration experience look like, the thesis combines a policy document analysis with four semi-structured interviews with organisations working at the intersection in both countries. The selected material and interviews are analysed with a reflexive thematic analysis approach following Braun & Clarke (2006) under an intersectional lens. The policy analysis shows, in addition to the lack of engagement with the intersection, that the respective asylum laws influence the access to the labour market through work permits and through their interplay with the provision of disability services. From the interviews, it appears that in both countries, persons with disabilities and forced migration experience get access to the labour market either through registration with the Employment Agency and their specific programmes for persons with disabilities, through sheltered workplaces in Sweden or sheltered workshops in Germany or personal contacts with diaspora communities or organisations. These different pathways are in both countries furthermore highly dependent on structural and personal prerequisites. Despite experiences of discrimination and ableism, the interviews highlight not only the complexity that comes with the intersection, but also that persons with disabilities and forced migration experience, often with the help of organisations, nevertheless navigate the pathways and find employment.