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Paper short abstract:

The Covid-19 pandemic has been a time of uncertainty, not least when it comes to concerns over preservation of the body and access to healthcare services. This paper focuses on liminality of migration, embodied experiences of self care, and facing the prolonged and emerging uncertainties.

Paper long abstract:

Health inequalities are a known phenomenon in different countries. Sweden is not an exception. The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has exposed and exacerbated a range of already-existing health inequalities that especially impact vulnerable groups, including those categorized as foreign-born and migrant. When the first wave of the pandemic hit Sweden in March 2020, some migrated groups who resided in segregated areas were hit hard. Investigating the cause of these marginalized groups’ overrepresentation in mortality and morbidity statistics, socioeconomic factors, poor health, low health literacy, and lack of access to health authorities' guidelines are considered as potential contributing factors to the situation. What is less explored, however, is the impacted groups’ lived experiences of a migratory life during the pandemic. In Sweden, seeking care independently and taking a great deal of responsibility for one's health is a central health paradigm. This socioculturally shaped view, nevertheless, can be interpreted, internalized, and acted upon differently based on one’s former experiences of dealing with similar situations in similar contexts. This can lead to the emergence of old and new coping strategies among different groups. This paper explores a group of asylum seekers’ embodied experiences of dealing with situations that arise before and during migration and the pandemic. It is to investigate how participants in this study perceive their vulnerabilities, what approaches they take to secure their health in the face of a pandemic, and in what way they express their bodily (un)readiness to face uncertainties of the pandemic and their liminal migratory lives.