This paper studies the Swedish Alien’s Act regulations regarding individuals in need of international protection. The purpose of the essay is to examine the differences between the three grounds of protection that are found in the Swedish Alien’s Act. Central questions have been whether the origins of protection statuses granted in this act are national or international, as the UN convention relating to the status of refugees and also the progress of the European Union’s Common European Asylum System both are affecting the Swedish legislation. The international relation’s theoretical perspectives of realism and liberalism have been applied in the analysis of what ideas and international political backgrounds have been found. The resulting conclusion is that only one category out of three is purely a result of the Swedish legislation. The common European asylum system affects and controls a large part of what is called Swedish asylum policy. It is concluded that liberal political-philosophical ideas of human rights are dominating the ideological background, and that liberal ideas of freedom from economical hindrances and also institutionalism has formed the system we have today. An interesting paradox is seen in the European Union’s growing concern of security and external borders, which is more typical in a realist, state-centered perspective.