They last stayed at the airport. While the other quota refugees were picked up at Malmö Airport by representatives from their new home municipalities on 12 May, the Al-Hariri family was left alone. No one from Staffanstorp showed up.
Only when they were driven to a hotel in Malmö did an official from the Swedish Migration Board explain that Staffanstorp had introduced a total stop against quota refugees.
– We were shocked, it felt difficult not to be welcome, says mother Yasmine Al-Fadel.
She pours coffee at the kitchen table in the family’s new apartment in Skanör. When Staffanstorp refused to accept, Vellinge municipality stepped in and offered the family accommodation.
Several other refugee families live in the single-storey houses with apartments. The father in the family, Hasan Al-Hariri, had read about both Sweden and Staffanstorp before the trip.
– We were so happy when we learned that we would get to Sweden. To the land of justice, freedom and democracy, he says.
The decision on a total stop for quota refugees was taken in the municipal board in Staffanstorp already in March. The motivation was that the municipality wants to prioritize Ukrainian refugees. The decision means that Staffanstorp goes against Swedish legislation.
– Legislation or not. This law is deeply questioned, Christian Sonesson (M), chairman of the municipal board, told DN before the Al-Hariri family’s arrival.
Christian Sonesson has also explained on his Facebook page why Staffanstorp does not accept quota refugees as long as there is a war in Europe.
“Quota refugees require enormous resources from the municipality to which they are assigned. They do not know a syllable Swedish, often not even English, not infrequently they are also illiterate. ”
Christian Sonesson has been municipal councilor and Staffanstorp’s strong man for twelve years. Now he is aiming for a parliamentary seat for the Moderates. If the election result is the same as today, he will enter.
– I speak a little Swedish, says 12-year-old Mohamad Al-Hariri and smiles broadly.
He is the youngest in the family and looks forward to starting school in a few days.
– It is eight minutes away by bike, he proudly explains.
It has been some windy and hectic early summer days in Skanör. Mother Yasmine, father Hasan and 22-year-old son Ali have already started at SFI.
In Lebanon, where the family lived In recent years, Hasan has worked as a baker. 22-year-old Ali received a scholarship for university studies, and is a trained biomedical analyst. Now he hopes to be able to read a master’s and start working as soon as possible.
There was no future in Lebanon, the family says, because they could not get a work or residence permit.
– I had to work illegally 12-14 hours a day in a medical lab. There was no other way to cope, says Ali Al-Hariri.
The home in the Syrian city of Dar’a has been destroyed.
– But now we will create a new life in our new homeland, says Hasan Al-Hariri.
He has understood that Staffanstorp only wants to receive Ukrainian refugees.
– But we have all fled from war. There is no difference between us, we are all human beings, says Hasan Al-Hariri.
There has been concern weeks for the officials at the town hall in Staffanstorp. Akademikerförbundet SSR believes that the municipality urges its employees to defy the law. On June 17, the union demanded a meeting with the municipality.
The head of administration, Annette Christiansson, is now talking about the tours for the first time. She was the one who informed her employees that the Al-Hariri family was not allowed to be picked up at the airport.
– It is not stated in any legislation that the municipality must come and pick up at the airport, says Annette Christiansson.
So if they had driven to Staffanstorp’s town hall, would you have received?
– I did not say that. But it is one thing to make an overall political decision. If it is actually refugees, it is a different kind of decision in an individual case.
Annette Christiansson explains that she and the employees had many meetings about the situation.
Are you annoyed that the politicians put you in this situation?
– I can not comment on that.
The officials in Staffanstorp could very well have refused to comply with the political decision. That is the opinion of Olle Lundin, professor of administrative law at Uppsala University.
– The officials know that this is illegal. This means that they can not be active in this decision and believe that they can avoid responsibility for it. If you know that something is illegal, you as an official must protest. It puts them in a difficult situation, he says.
Does the head of administration have the opportunity to say: This political decision is against the law, so unfortunately we can not enforce it?
– Yes. Absolutely.
Can she be affected then in any way?
– Politicians can be boned, claim that she is disloyal and buy her out. It’s probably not that fun to be an official there right now.
In total, Staffanstorp receive 36 quota refugees this year. At the end of June, a group of six people will arrive, another four later this summer.
But head of administration Annette Christiansson can not answer for how it will be.
– You have to ask our politicians about that. If we are to receive, politics must change their decision, she says.
DN has repeatedly sought the chairman of the municipal board, Christian Sonesson (M), but he has not returned.
If the municipality continues to defy the law, there is not much to oppose.
– We have no sanction options, says Patrik Åkesson, director of public works at the County Administrative Board of Skåne.
So if Staffanstorp continues to refuse, what happens then?
– We have no muscles in that case, nothing happens.
Sweden is unique in a Nordic perspective. Only here is it free for a municipality to defy the law – without anyone being punished, Professor Olle Lundin claims.
– This could not happen in Norway, Denmark or Finland. It only happens in Sweden. It is an extremely strange phenomenon that we can have municipal legal defiance but not prosecute it.
It is extremely problematic, according to Lundin, because more municipalities may have to follow suit.
– In Norway and Denmark, politicians would receive a sanction fee, a personal fee. In Finland, you have more far-reaching service responsibilities, where you would be prosecuted.
It’s very unusual that municipal officials are convicted of misconduct in Sweden.
A crux is that the police and prosecutors are not so familiar with the matter, the police do not have that competence. But that you should be able to do this and get away with it is remarkable.
It is worrying that Staffanstorp can continue to deny quota refugees without being punished, Olle Lundin thinks.
– The only thing you can do is turn to the police and prosecutors.
Who will do it?
– Anybody. It would not be unreasonable for the police and prosecutors to bring it up themselves when they read the newspaper. This is not something you want to see in a state governed by the rule of law.
In the apartment in Skanör is the coffee drunk.
– We have understood that this was Staffanstorp’s decision and that it does not represent the Swedish government’s positions, says Hasan Al-Hariri.
The family hopes that more quota refugee families will not have to end up in a similar situation. Above all, they are relieved that Vellinge received.
– We are so happy and grateful for that. Wherever we go, people visit us. We feel incredibly welcome, says Ali Al-Hariri.