1. The situation of men and women with disabilities seeking asylum in Sweden Arvid Lindén, international disability policy coordinator 3rd meeting on Monitoring and Evaluation for Disability-inclusive Development, Nov 2016

2. Outline The Agency for Participation Current work on Agenda 2030
National
International
A study on the situation of men and women with disabilities seeking asylum in Sweden

3. The Agency for Participation
Established to take a more comprehensive, cross-sectoral approach with the task to stimulate and develop knowledge building in the area of
rigths of persons with disability
participation, accessibility
universal design
digital technology
living conditions and environment
Mission: to accelerate the progress towards a society in which everyone can participate on equal terms, regardless of functional capacity

4. Agenda 2030 in national disability policy
1 No powerty 3 Good Health and Well-being 4 Quality Education 5 Gender Equality 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth 10 Reduced Inequalities 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions 17 Partnerships for the Goals

5. Agenda 2030 in Swedish international policy frame-work
The disability perspective needs to be included
Special attention for PWD in gender analysis
PWD as a priority group for global partnership
The knowledge and experiences of the civil society should be utilized
Sweden should take an active part internationally in the development of methods for monitoring the implementation of Agenda 2030.

6. Objectives of the study
To provide data for more in-depth studies and efforts to improve conditions for people with disabilities seeking asylum in Sweden
To provide a basis for improvement of the asylum process so that they are universally designed – applicable to everyone with additional support available as needed.

7. Knowledge gathering
Reference group meetings
Survey

8. Asylum applications (non-EU) 2005–15 in the EU-28 Member States
thousands
Source: Eurostat

9. Main citizenships of (non-EU) asylum applicants, Sweden 2015
Source: Eurostat

10. Distribution by age of (non-EU) first time asylum applicants in Sweden and the EU, 2015
Source: Eurostat

11. Distribution by level of education (non-EU) first time asylum applicants in Sweden, 2015
Source: Swedish employment service

12. Consequences of the refugee crisis
Longer processing time for a residence permit
Several alternative arrival accommodations for asylum seekers were established
There is a general lack of knowledge among and between actors - Routines missing many times on the basis of the changed starting position and responsibility.

13. Problems identified due to the refugee crisis
Inadequate introduction meetings for children
Lack of interpreters
Lack of custodians/contact persons for unaccompanied children
Insufficient health control routines
Insufficient training for staff working in arrival accommodations

14. Persons with disabilities in the Swedish asylum seekers process – the population
psychological health problems dominate the current discourse Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Depression, Trauma - Second wave
Every third asylum seekers are estimated to suffer from mental illness
Culture creates differences in the symptoms - Incorrect treatment
Migrants and refugees often have a higher incidence of mental illness, but turns less to psychiatric care

15. Persons with disabilities in the Swedish asylum and refugee process
Population comprised of persons with many different impairments, including physical impairment, visual impairment, hearing impairment, dyslexia and intellectual impairment (which may not be noticeable until later in the process, eg, in education and employment)
Several studies show that hearing impairment is common among refugees from war-torn countries

16. Persons with disabilities in the Swedish process
The authorities indicate that there is lack of knowledge and statistics about the group concerned
Studies in this area are often short-sighted and lack quality
Women are believed to be at a higher risk than men as asylum seekers (National Board of Health and Welfare)

17. The lack of statistics and qualitative data
Reports on people with disabilities in the asylum process indicate that the group is particularly vulnerable
There is very little documented about disability in connection with the asylum process, the statistics available are often inadequate or non-existent
A general lack of gender-based and typ of disability statistics
The mapping and statistics available concern primarily psychological health problems and often linked to the health controls carried out by the county councils

18. Thank you Arvid Lindén arvid.linden@mfd.se +46 76 104 1525