The time parties will present the Vandels investigation. – Dn.se.
The requirements for staying in Sweden, and by extension become a Swedish citizen, must be tightened. It is a central goal in Tidö collaboration. Fewer will come here, but more will also leave the country.
Now further steps are taken in the austerity. An investigator has been commissioned to propose new opportunities to withdraw a residence permit due to a lack of vandel. This means that the assessment should not only be about possible crime but about a person’s way of life in a broader sense. This is one of the points in the Tidö agreement that has attracted the most attention.
– If you come to Sweden and do not live a caring life, then you have no unconditional right to stay here. It only has citizens. There, the legislation has been far too weak, says Migration Minister Johan Forsell (M), who receives the investigation on Tuesday.
Deficiencies in the way of life may, according to the government’s directive to the investigator, be contribution fraud, dishonest livelihood, abuse or intercourse with criminals.
But the directives also address another thing, which was not included when the point of a vandal test was formulated in the Tidö agreement. « Opinions » should also be able to be tested and lead to a person being forced to leave the country. It may be that a person has expressed opinions that are considered « system threatening » or undermines « the administration’s legitimacy » or means showing « disrespect against the population ».
Thus, migration policy has Moves into the field of freedom of speech – and warning flags are raised by human rights experts.
– I was amazed when I saw it. How can it be a provision that is compatible with fundamental rule of law? says Nils Funcke, journalist, debater and expert on freedom of speech.
He has no fundamental objections to the use of crime as a reason for expeling people. The problem here, according to Nils Funcke, is that one seems to be aimed at opinions that are in itself fully legal to present in Sweden. He points out that freedom of speech, according to the Swedish Constitution, is added « each », ie not just the one who is a citizen.
– The danger is that you are silencing opinions and values that are not illegal to perform. It would be a paradigm shift in the view of who should have full freedom of speech and which should have a lower level. You create a « light variant » of freedom of expression, says Nils Funcke.
The same dangers sees Martin Nyman, assistant chief lawyer at the organization Civil Rights Defenders (CRD).
– To introduce an arrangement where people are expelled for opinions that are not criminal lacks legal legitimacy. It violates the European Convention and the principle of equal treatment before the law, he says.
Some events have played a special role when the government designed the directives. On the one hand, the so-called LVU campaign, where there were falsehoods on the social service’s care of children. Partly demonstrations where the terrorist organization Hamas was hailed after the massacre on Israelis in October 2023 and Israel’s attack against Gaza.
Nils Funcke points out that It can be fully legitimate to criticize both the social services and the state of Israel. But if the criticism is presented in a way that violates the law, perhaps threats to an official or incitement against people, it should be prosecuted as any other crime – whether the person is a citizen or not.
-If it is a non-citizen who is convicted of it, that person can be sentenced to deportation.
Martin Nyman at CRD warns that the social debate and ultimately democracy are at risk of injury.
– There is an obvious risk of self -censorship, where people with residence permits do not dare to participate in the social debate even in situations where you may want to present a purely legitimate criticism.
Migration Minister Johan Forssell admits that there are difficult boundaries to do.
– It is clear that it is legally complicated and we will see what the investigation lands in. Ultimately, it will be a matter for the courts.
– But I think you have to ask the question: Is it reasonable for people who systematically misbehave and pay tribute to terrorist organizations to be able to become Swedish citizens? Or those who spread erroneous claims that harm Sweden? I don’t think the Swedish people think so, says Johan Forssell.
Ludvig Aspling, the Swedish Democrats spokesperson on migration issues, thinks it is wrong to describe the vandal test as a restriction on freedom of expression.
– It is not so that we will put people in prison for a freedom of expression. Here is the question whether or not a person should have a residence permit in Sweden. Then you can definitely demand that you do not express support for terrorism.
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