Sweden's return and readmission policies are shaped by both national and international frameworks. The key legal instrument in Swedish migration law, including regarding matters of return, is the 2006 Aliens Act which outlines Sweden's specific procedures for returning irregular migrants and those whose asylum claims are rejected. The Aliens Act is supplemented by the 2006 Aliens Ordinance and several additional Acts and Ordinances, including the Administrative Act and the Administrative Procedures Act, as well as by EU law and international treaties and customary law in human rights and refugee law.
As also emphasized in GAPs-WP2 Sweden report, while return has been a priority at least on paper for years, its urgency has intensified in recent years. This is evident from the Swedish Migration Agency being directed by the Government to prioritise returns more than before, enhancing the efficiency of the return process and increasing the number of people actually departing Sweden. As this report outlined, there appears to be a shift in focus from voluntary to enforced returns, a development that aligns with the overall trend in Swedish migration policy towards greater restrictiveness since 2015, encapsulated by the principle of "no means no". This approach aims to ensure that Sweden does not deviate from the EU's minimum standards for international protection, asylum procedures, reception conditions, and return measures. The 2022 Tidö Agreement's reforms further cement this stringent migration stance, reflecting what has been termed a "paradigm shift" in Swedish migration policy.
As an EU member state, Sweden adheres to the EU's common return policy, which emphasizes voluntary returns and reintegration in migrants' home countries. It also promotes cooperation with third countries through readmission agreements. Several terms and definitions in the Return Directive or the Return Regulation1 have not been transformed into the Swedish Aliens Act or other Swedish legislation. As outlined in GAPs WP2-Sweden report, while amendments and revisions to Swedish legislation have indeed been enacted to incorporate the EU Return Directive and subsequent EU legislation on return into Swedish law, the Swedish government has, on numerous points, deemed such revisions unnecessary. The government has contended that existing legislation, principally the Aliens Act, already meets or surpasses the requirements of EU law, thereby obviating the need for additional measures to align Swedish law with EU directives on these matters. This includes several definitions listed in Article 3 of the Return Directive (such as "irregular stay" and "assisted return"), and the authorised exemption from applying the Return Directive under specific conditions outlined in Articles 2.2 a and b.
The main governmental actors playing in return operations are Migration Agency (Migrationsverket) and the Police Authority (Polisen). To understand the Swedish system, it is essential to note that Swedish government agencies, including the Migration Agency and the Police Authority, are independent and largely autonomous in relation to the government. While the government has quite substantial scope for steering the operations of government agencies through annual appropriation directives and ordinances, by the appointment of top management, and through yearly monitoring and evaluations, the government has no powers to intervene in an agency's decisions in specific matters relating to the application of the law or the due exercise of its authority2. Ministerial rule is in other words not allowed in Sweden.
The regulations about regular procedures for issuing return decisions and their consequences, including re-entry bans and voluntary deportation to Sweden, are primarily established in the Aliens Act and the Act (2022:700) Concerning Special Control of Certain Aliens. The latter Act addresses aliens considered to pose threats to national security. The Migration Agency has the authority to issue expulsion or removal and deportation-related decisions (Chapter 12, Section 14 and Chapter 8, Section 17), which may be appealed to the Migration Court (Chapter 14)3. The Police Authority can also, under certain circumstances, issue such decisions (Chapter 12, Section 14 and Chapter 8, Section 17), which may be appealed to the Migration Agency or a Migration Court (Chapter 14). In addition, decisions regarding expulsion due to criminal activity fall under the jurisdiction of the court responsible for the criminal case (Aliens Act, Chapter 8a, Section 10).
The Aliens Act also defines the area of responsibility of the Police Authority concerning the enforcement of expulsion and deportation decisions. This responsibility encompasses the execution of the Police Authority's expulsion and deportation decisions and court decisions for deportation due to criminal activities (Aliens Act, Chapter 12, Section 14). Additionally, it involves enforcing a decision of expulsion and deportation if the alien, after the decision has been enforced once, is found to have returned to Sweden (Chapter 12, Section 23). The Aliens Act, Chapter 8, specifies the various grounds for expulsion and deportation, stating that an alien lacking the necessary permit to stay in Sweden should be expelled or deported, while Chapter 12 details the different aspects of enforcement of expulsion and deportation decisions. For instance, crime or suspected criminality according to the Terrorist Crimes Act (2022:666) and considerations for Sweden's security that can be found in the Act (2022:700) on Special Control of Certain Aliens are stated as grounds for expulsion in the Aliens Act (Chapter 8, Section 1, Sub-Sections 1, 2 and 3). The Security Service enforces expulsion and deportation decisions related to security cases as specified in the Aliens Act (Chapter 12, Section 14) and defined in it (Chapter 1, Section 7).
The Aliens Act outlines the circumstances under which decisions on immediate enforcement can be implemented (Chapter 8, Section 19) and provides instructions for enforcement procedures (Chapter 8, Section 20). It also details when a decision on deportation or expulsion shall be considered executed (Chapter 12, Sections 21 and 22) and when enforcement of a decision has not ceased or is still applicable (Chapter 12, Section 23).
Sweden entered into 15 bilateral readmission agreements with various countries, both within and outside the EU, starting with Germany in 1956, as indicated by the schedule in an official document4 provided through communication with the Migration Agency. Countries include Iraq, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, France, Kosovo, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Switzerland, Germany, and Vietnam. Furthermore, from 2008 to 2022, Sweden has been a party to 18 EU and bilateral agreements, extending to countries such as Ukraine, Türkiye, Sri Lanka, Serbia, Russia, Pakistan, Montenegro, Moldova, North Macedonia, Macao, Cape Verde, Hong Kong, Georgia, Bosnia, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Albania.
1 Regulation (EU) 2018/1860 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 November 2018 on the use of the Schengen Information System for the return of illegally staying third-country nationals
2 For an overview of how Swedish public agencies are governed, see e.g. https://www.government.se/how-sweden-is-governed/public-agencies-and-how-they-are-governed/ (last visited 03/01/2024).
3 The Migration Agency's decisions can be appealed to the Migration Courts. The Migration Courts serve as the first instance and are located at four administrative courts in Sweden, namely Stockholm, Malmö, Gothenburg, and Luleå. The final instance for these cases is the Migration Court of Appeal, which is situated at the Administrative Court of Appeal in Stockholm. For more information, please see the Swedish Courts' website for more information https://shorturl.at/bDQ56
4 Migrationsverket, EU och bilaterala återtagandeavtal, (accessed 2 november 2023)
Authors: R. Thorburn Stern, R. & M. Shakra
