In the Best Interest of the Child? The Politics of Vulnerability and Negotiations for Asylum in Sweden

This article concerns the interplay between government policy and practice and refugee children's welfare as these issues have been brought to the fore in public debate and controversy in the recent past in Sweden. Framed by the tension between immigration law and human rights conventions such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), incidences of ill-health and suffering among asylum-seeking children have both spurred public concerns over their vulnerability and welfare and questioned the authenticity and legitimacy of their claims. The images reflect the ambiguous constructions of refugee children and their families either as victims or as untrustworthy ‘others’. The article addresses the ways in which the focus on children resonates particularly in the Swedish context, related both to a long-standing concern with children's wellbeing and to a Swedish self-image as international model for children's rights. The issues manifested in the Swedish context form part of a wider problematic: suffering and vulnerability are expressions of, but also a potential resource in, an extremely harsh situation of severely limited options; they also have something to say about the risks of ‘humanitarianism’ and the changing terms of asylum in Europe today.