Local responses in restrictive national policy contexts: welfare provisions for non-removed rejected asylum seekers in Amsterdam, Stockholm and Vienna

This paper examines municipal responses to restrictive national policies by focussing on welfare provision for non-removed rejected asylum seekers. Using an analytical framework of multi-level governance, we investigate processes of conflict and cooperation and the demarcation of responsibilities between government tiers at the intersection of migration and welfare policy. In an in-depth analysis of the cases of Amsterdam, Vienna and Stockholm, we argue that in order to explain the divergences of public welfare provisions for non-removed rejected asylum seekers, it is necessary to look into their respective legal-institutional framework and formal competences, but also beyond, meaning into the relations of those municipalities with civil society actors and other local governments. We find that, on the one hand, the relationship between local NGOs and the municipality has an influence on the scope of services provided and that, on the other hand, alliance-building between municipalities is crucial for strengthening a political standing.