One September morning five years ago, Hassan waved off his wife and their three children, 11-year-old Muhammad, nine-year-old Salwa and six-year-old Abdulmana, and boarded a boat for Europe. Since then they have not been seen again.

- I knew it would take a while, says Hassan Osari. But I thought it would take a year or two, not five.

He was afraid that the children would drown if he put them on the unstable rubber boat and thought that it was safer to go alone. Then, at the beginning of autumn 2015, everyone who fled Syria received a permanent residence permit and the opportunities for family reunification were good.

"A Swede may not even be able to do it"

But since then it has become more difficult. As Hassan Osari's application was not registered within three months, he is now subject to the requirement to be able to support himself, his wife, the three children and have an apartment that is large enough for all of them.

- It is clear that it is my responsibility to provide for them, he says. But they demand that I must earn 24,000 after tax plus rent and have a first-hand contract. It is difficult, if not impossible, for any refugee. A Swede may not even be able to do it.

Hassan Osari works as a mechanic in Stockholm. But there he found no accommodation that was large enough for the family and therefore got an apartment in Bollnäs, 270 km away. But two rents and money to support his family in Turkey became too much for his salary as a mechanic.

An impossible equation

Now he does not know what to do to be able to live with the children.

- They can not come here and I can not travel there because Turkey does not give me a visa. It is an impossible equation, he says.

- I came here to secure my children's future. For them to grow up in a safe country, far from war and misery. If I can not give them something, there is nothing left for me in Sweden.