The Minister promises more money to Filipstad: "Will take more of the cake"

In 2015, Filipstad was one of the municipalities that received the most refugees in relation to its population - today the municipality has the highest proportion of grants in the entire country. Unemployment among foreign-born people is soaring, and this year the municipality is forced to save SEK 30 million.

Municipal employees are alerting an increasingly desperate situation and the Social Democratic Municipal Council Per Gruvberger is demanding that the state step in and take its responsibility.

- Resources and a national equalization are needed to fulfill this mission, which arose because of how we organized our asylum reception for a certain period of time, says Per Gruvberger (S).

Minister of Civil Affairs Ardalan Shekarabi tells Mission Review that state and local government must be helped.

- This is partly about keeping in line with the change in migration policy that was implemented in the fall of 2015. Then ensuring that the municipalities - and especially municipalities such as Filipstad - continue to receive increased resources so that they are given the opportunity to make the investments that are necessary for people to also get well education and the opportunity to get a job.

The Social Democrats have proposed a change in cost equalization between municipalities and county councils. If the Riksdag supports the proposal, a new system could be in place on January 1, 2020, according to the Social Democrats.

- This means that municipalities like Filipstad will take a larger share of the cake, says Ardalan Shekarabi.

Assignment review team has met Hamada from Aleppo, who now resides in Filipstad. He has no education and worked with wheat cultivation in Syria, but in Filipstad he has not found a job because he has not learned Swedish despite SFI studies.

What would you say to him?

- That it will be required that we invest in giving him opportunities to get an education, a way into work and that he will also be required to make an effort. After all, it is a combination of society's efforts and his efforts that allows us to cope with integration and that he can handle the task of getting into society and getting his own livelihood, says Ardalan Shekarabi.

Do you think he'll have it?

- I'm convinced of that. Sweden has no problems that we cannot solve if we help.