| Summary: | Sweden has traditionally been portrayed as a tolerant and generous country in terms of its migration policy. In conjunction with the increased flow of refugees in 2015 this image of Sweden has slowly but surely come to be questioned. Swedish political parties have raised concerns over the increased number of asylum seekers, and stressed the social, political and economic implications it may have for the Swedish society. This essay examines how Swedish political parties frame the refugee issue, and how these frames can be understood from a security lens. The following questions have been examined; How do Swedish parlamentary parties frame the refugee issue? To what extent is the refugee issue securitized in the Swedish context? What consequences can securitization of the refugee issue have for Swedish citizens’ attitudes to the welcoming of refugees? Two complementary methods are used to analyze the material. In the first step, Faircloughs critical discourse analysis uncover Swedish parliamentary parties frames of the refugee issue. In the second step, the securitization theory is applied in order to relate these refugee portrayals to security. Four central refugee discourses are identified in the material, following are; solidarity, responsibility, identity and expenditures. The essay argues that the refugee issue tends to be framed as a security threat of parties on the right wing of the political spectrum. Parties such as the Moderate Party and the Sweden Democrats have securitized the refugee issue. These parties frame the issue in terms of expenditures and identity, which follow a security rhetoric. The remaining parties show a great concern on the issue, but put emphasis on solidarity and responsibility. Successful securitization has thus not taken place among these parties.
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