Sweden’s parliament voted Monday to enact a law requiring government workers to notify police whenever they encounter migrants who do not have legal authorization to reside in the country. Opponents of the measure say it will foster fear among vulnerable populations and could take a serious toll on migrants’ physical and mental health.
The legislation is part of a broader push by Sweden to adopt a stricter stance on migration, coming at a time when the European Union is also restructuring its immigration policies — including measures aimed at speeding up deportations.
Jacob Lind, a migration expert from Malmo University, spoke with the AP following the parliamentary vote. “This is the latest measure in a long list of extremely problematic regulations on migration,” he said. “It has a symbolic meaning because it amounts to snitching by some very important state agencies.”
John Stauffer of Swedish nonprofit Civil Rights Defenders noted to the AP that the bill barely cleared the legislature, passing by just two votes — 174 in favor and 172 against. He said that razor-thin margin reflects the significant opposition that exists within Swedish society over the law.
After criticism from various groups, teachers, physicians, and social workers were carved out from the reporting requirement.
Under the new law, employees at agencies such as tax authorities, employment offices, social insurance agencies, and prison and probation services will be legally required to inform police when they have reason to believe someone they are dealing with lacks the proper documentation to remain in Sweden.
Louise Bonneau, representing Brussels-based nonprofit PICUM — an organization that advocates for migrants — told the AP that such requirements carry wide-ranging consequences. “Reporting obligations imposed on public agencies create a climate of fear that harms not only undocumented people but everyone who depends on these institutions,” she said.
The Swedish government has maintained that additional tools are necessary to ensure that individuals without legal permission to stay in the country can be sent back to their home nations.
A group of researchers from three Swedish universities cautioned in March that the law conflicts with fundamental human rights and encourages racial profiling — a practice in which authorities target individuals based on race or ethnicity rather than actual evidence of wrongdoing.
Those researchers spoke with public servants about the ethical dilemmas the law would introduce into their daily work.
As one example highlighted by the researchers: if a mother without legal residency status gives birth, the midwife is not obligated to report her — but information about the newborn will eventually reach the tax authority, which is then required to report the family to authorities.
“It creates a huge deterrence effect to be in contact with a healthcare professional,” Bonneau said. “We’ll see what happens in practice. Will we see people fearing to be in contact with authorities, issues of maternal health, of the children being born?”
Germany enacted similar legislation back in 2005, requiring certain public agencies to report migrants without valid residency status. That law applies to institutions such as welfare offices, while schools and hospitals remain exempt. Even so, migrants in Germany are known to avoid seeking medical care because doing so requires obtaining paperwork from a welfare office first — a step that can expose them to immigration authorities. In response, several organizations in larger cities like Berlin have established healthcare services specifically for migrants without legal residency status.
In 2018, the United Kingdom revised a policy that had allowed immigration officials to access patient records from the National Health Service. Amid concerns that the arrangement was discouraging migrants from seeking care and compromising patient confidentiality, the government scaled back the rules. Under the revised policy, the Home Office was limited to accessing only the names of individuals suspected or convicted of crimes who faced deportation proceedings.
