Sweden will not yet halt deportations of young people — The Local Sweden

The Swedish Migration Agency will not yet suspend the deportations of young people who may be affected by a new parliamentary initiative. As The Local Sweden reports, the agency is awaiting a formalized proposal from a parliamentary committee.

Rule change for young people

Sweden’s right-wing government introduced a so-called safeguard this autumn, intended to halt the deportations of young people who arrived in the country on the basis of a residence permit held by one of their parents but reached the age at which they can no longer obtain a permit as dependants. The age threshold for obtaining a residence permit through family ties for this group was raised from 18 to 21.

When this mechanism was introduced, the Migration Agency suspended the enforcement of deportation decisions until the new rules entered into force. However, the agency will not do so under the current circumstances.

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Parliamentary committee proposal

The Social Democrats, the Left Party, the Centre Party and the Greens agreed on the parameters of new emergency legislation intended to prevent the deportation of young people. The initiative was supported by all parties on the parliamentary social insurance committee, which considers migration issues.

Under the proposal, it would apply to people who retain family ties in Sweden and whose residence permit applications were rejected after July 20, 2021. Migration Agency Director General Maria Mindhammar received the cross-party proposal after the committee meeting a week ago.

Agency awaits an official mandate

Adoption of the new legislation may take several months. Opposition parties had hoped that, during this period, the agency would temporarily halt further deportations of people who may be affected by the bill. Agency spokesperson Ulrika Karlsson said that the committee must submit a more formal initiative and that officials need a clear and narrowly defined mandate to understand exactly which procedures should be suspended.