Russian sanctuary journalists are denied residence permits in Gothenburg

Last summer, the newspaper Journalisten reported that it was clear that three Russian journalists in exile would be granted asylum in Gothenburg.

The idea was that the journalists, with their relatives, would be allowed to work in Gothenburg for two years.

Through the editorial support of Göteborgs-Posten, they would continue to report to Russian audiences through solutions such as VPN tunnels.

- Everything was ready and we have good financing based on contributions from the Västra Götaland region, the Swedish Institute and the Sätila foundation, says Ulla Sätereie, chairman of the Association of Excavating Journalists, which runs the sanctuary project.

She says that all the practical aspects of workplaces, housing and schools for the journalists' children were prepared.

Missing certificate

When Kulturnyheterna asks the Swedish Migration Agency, they say that they cannot comment on the specific case, but that there are certain general criteria for asylum applicants.

"What generally applies to being granted a permit as a sanctuary artist is that you must have been invited by a municipality or region, and the Swedish Migration Agency also needs a certificate from international PEN or ICORN (sanctuary organization) that says it applies to a sanctuary artist," writes press communicator Lisa Danling.

According to Ulla Sätereie, however, it was not possible to apply for a certificate from either the international writers' organization PEN or the asylum organization ICORN for the journalists in question.

- Icorn works towards individuals and we work towards an editorial office.

And the problem is that the international PEN club does not do such validations anymore.

Then we turned to Reporters Without Borders, who wrote a validation for us, says Sätereie.

"We were shocked"

Sätereie is critical of the fact that the requirements from the Migration Agency were not clarified earlier and says that they will appeal the decision.

- We were shocked because we have been in constant contact with the Swedish Migration Agency.

We have consulted them throughout and checked that the documents and the invitations that we have been able to attach to the application are correct, says Sätereie.

When Kulturnyheterna asks the Swedish Migration Agency how common it is for asylum seekers to be denied a residence permit late in the process, i.e. when a region like Västra Götaland has had time to invite them, they ask to come back.