The issue of labor immigration has been debated in Sweden in the past week after new proposals were submitted to the Minister of Justice and Migration Morgan Johansson (S).
Among other things, some of the proposals were subsistence requirements for immigrant labor, stricter supervision of working conditions and proposals that make it easier for highly qualified labor immigrants to establish themselves in Sweden.
Morgan Johansson visited Agenda on Sunday evening to talk about labor immigration.
- We have over 400,000 unemployed in Sweden and if you want people who can work with cleaning, window cleaning, with dishes or as a restaurant assistant, we already have that workforce in Sweden and it would have been much better if the jobs went to people who already exist in Sweden.
"Is there a greater understanding today"
The Social Democrats voted not to allow labor immigration to occupations if there are people in Sweden who can take the jobs.
- It is the reasonable attitude, but when you do not get your own majority, you must try to find support in the Riksdag so that you can get through it.
My picture is that if you ask the Green Party, the Liberals and the Center Party how they view these questions, you get different answers now than you got two to three years ago, there is a much greater understanding today than before because we have real problem.
Wants to introduce testing
But the question is whether you have with your partners? What they press that is important is that employers should have the freedom to recruit whoever they want. Are you up for it?
- If I had had to decide everything myself, I would of course have reintroduced the labor test that existed before.
That they only had labor immigration for the occupations where we were in short supply.
I think it is the most reasonable and flexible model.
Who will decide if there is a shortage or not?
- Now it is perhaps an authority that could make that assessment, says Morgan Johansson.