Immigration

🇸🇪 Government moves forward with duty to report undocumented immigrants

Despite criticism, the government is determined to move forward with a proposal to force teachers, healthcare workers, and social workers to report undocumented immigrants.

An investigation will be launched "soon," according to Minister for Migration Maria Malmer Stenergard (M).

"There are conflicting objectives, and I understand that there are professional groups who believe that this goes against ethics," she told TT news agency and added:

"But I want to emphasize how crucial it is that we have a public Sweden that pulls in the same direction, where everyone contributes to enforcing announced decisions and judgments as far as possible."

According to the minister, it is about ensuring that resources go to those who have protection needs, not individuals who have been denied asylum or are illegally residing in the country.

Not informing on others

During a mini-debate in parliament's question time, Lorena Delgado Varas (V) asked if it would not be best for the government to drop the proposal.

She noted that several representatives and individual employees in municipalities, regions, and authorities, as well as in healthcare, schools, and care, have flagged that they will never engage in what many of them call informing on others. The government and the Sweden Democrats refer to it as a duty to report or inform about undocumented immigrants.

"I strongly distance myself from the phrase 'informing-on-others law'; here, we are referring to public employees in their duties," Malmer Stenergard said in the debate with Delgado Varas.

The minister says that the investigation will be launched soon, at least that is the ambition.

Investigating exceptions

She also says that the investigator will be tasked with considering whether exceptions are needed.

"We have agreed between the Tidö parties that we should investigate whether there are situations that would conflict with compassionate values, such as in healthcare for example," says Malmer Stenergard.

According to her, it will be quite a comprehensive task to investigate exceptions and she does not want to speculate on what it could be about. But she still says it could be in situations involving life-sustaining care.

"But not for broader 'care that cannot wait'."

She does not want to speculate on whether there would be grounds for exceptions in schools.

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by Lars Larsson/TT | edited by Riedia