What choices had you made 71 kroner a day? Bought food? According to the Swedish Consumer Agency, an adult who cooks all food at home can count on food costs of SEK 2,490–2,950 per month. You should therefore expect to go hungry. Also count on not being able to keep you or your clothes clean as detergents and hygiene items are not included in that calculation.
What do you do when you get a toothache? Would you choose to skip lunch for a few days to be able to take the bus to the job interview or to be able to buy a phone card and keep in touch with your loved ones who are left in a country at war? Do you choose to be hungry or to freeze when autumn comes and you need warm clothes?
SEK 71 per day is the highest daily allowance an asylum seeker can receive in Sweden. It drops to SEK 61 per day if you share a household with another adult and if you have more than two children, the compensation for the other children is halved. Food is not cheaper for children, no goods are cheaper for children. Is it reasonable? Is it in any way a good foundation to stand on? What choices should an asylum seeker in Sweden make to make life work?
Who among us could have lived under these conditions, even for a single week? Probably very few.
As deacons in the Church of Sweden we meet people who somehow move forward, despite these conditions, week after week. Their lives are characterized by waiting, insecurity and financial vulnerability. They wait, twist and turn the coins and try again and again to get the right side of their situation.
The Church of Sweden, together with many other organizations, stands by their side, we comfort and pray, help to apply for funds, distribute food bags and clothes. However, our support is not a long-term solution.
The daily allowance for asylum seekers is far below the limit of a fair standard of living, the low allowance forces people to the margins and risks confirming suspicious and xenophobic ideas. It is not reasonable, it is not dignified.
While we, together with the Swedish people preparing us for the big election this autumn, we want to know how Minister of Migration Anders Ygeman (S) would choose.
Food or winter boots?
Medicine or bus ticket?