The Dearly Deported – Details, episodes & analysis

Matt with his trusty companion Aniel talks about his Quixotic journey as an analyst and communicator with the Kompetensutvisning Baseline survey. This was the only polling of international professionals at risk of deportation from Sweden for minor errors. It was published over 40 times in Sweden and abroad. 

After Diversify shut down, Matt and Ali, along with Aniel and others started Real People - a digital labor movement for international professionals in Sweden. 

Recorded March 2020.

Music provided by Elena Yerevan and Ebba Grön. 

The fmr COO of Diversify, and the founder of Dearly Deported and Real-People.se talks about his personal case of kompetensutvisningar (2). 

Music Heems, "home" with comic relief by George Lopez 

Ali’s story of fighting against an unlawful deportation has been published by media worldwide. To say it’s an adventure is an understatement, and it still continues today. But why would an international talent go through all this to get back to Sweden? The answers are surprisingly – Swedish. Hear the whole story from Ali directly, and how he inspired Diversify, and so many others. Song credit: Mark Morrison “Return of the Mack” (C&J Extended Mix)

Did you see the last episode with ‘Nina’ from New Zealand? Well, her boss ‘Fredrik’ tells the employer side of the story in this episode. A leading entrepreneur in IT, and a ‘great boss’ as described by Nina -Fredrik is the type of employer that has been nominated by over 60 survey respondents as going above and beyond, we will celebrate them with the ‘KompetensINvisar Award’ this October!

Music from New Zealand’s own, Flight of the Conchords

The Dearly Deported: Ep. 5 PART I: Nina, Software Specialist

‘Nina’ came from New Zealand to work for a leading company in her field. She is the type of tech talent that everyone in Europe is fighting for. She survived kompetensutvisning, once, but being in limbo for a year took a toll on her personally, but moreover in terms of trust in the migration system in general. The  new interpretations of the law for permanent residency have her worried and confused.  

In PART II (coming soon) we hear from Nina’s Swedish boss, ‘Fredrik,’ a leading tech entrepreneur. Check back here for more!

Music and Comic Relief from New Zealand’s own, Flight of the Conchords, which uses abstract concepts of discrimination with Indian-American comic Aziz Ansari, to show just how silly it is!

“We feel more Swedish than Persian, to be honest… For me to be in Sweden, it was a chance to be who I am… To work as a woman without obstacles.”

‘Sara’ is the real deal. The family of 4 was deported due to missing insurances from her father’s (previous) employer, as an accountant. Facing deportation back to Iran with one year left of her program at Karolinska, Sara moved to Poland to make sure she got her degree to become a doctor. She also continues leading the fight for her family, remote. At 24 years old, and despite significant health issues for her and the entire family, Sara analyzes the macro level issues at play with #kompetensutvisning, skilled migration, investment, populism, public service provision, justice, and civil liberties. We added some information on insurances at the end, and encourage all employers and workers alike to listen.   

Song: Stockholm’s own Senaibo Sey, “Younger”    

“I don’t say that I’m Swedish, of course… But I feel at home here.” Even though Steve Moloney is from Australia, he’s represented Sweden in an international coffee competition, twice! He’s also the founder of the small business, the Barista League, based in Göteborg, but received news that he may be deported. Steve is one of nearly 600 respondents to our study with the WPHA on ‘kompetensutvisning’ (talent deportations) in Sweden. See more at https://www.diversifyfoundation.org/

Song: Australia’s finest,  Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know (feat. Kimbra

“Sweden is such a beautiful place to live… Here, you can actually focus on living – that’s what made me want to stay.” ‘Leo’ is an Australian working in ICT in Sweden for several years. But now, he is deported for the second time. He is one of nearly 600 respondents to our study with the WPHA on ‘kompetensutvisning’ (talent deportations) in Sweden. See more at https://www.diversifyfoundation.org/  Song: “Illusionary Lines” by Hilltop Hoods, from Australia!

The Dearly Deported podcast is based on interviews with over 570 foreign workers who filled out our survey on "Kompetensutvisning," i.e. foreign workers in Sweden facing deportation due to minor errors in their work permit application.