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The Swedish parliament on Monday adopted a law obliging public sector workers to report to the police any migrants who are not authorized to live in Sweden. Critics said it will create a climate of fear and could negatively impact migrants’ physical and mental health.
The law is part of Sweden’s efforts to tighten its approach to migration and comes as the European Union overhauls its migration system, including to expedite deportations.
“This is the latest measure in a long list of extremely problematic regulations on migration,” Jacob Lind, a migration expert from Malmo University, told the AP after the vote. “It has a symbolic meaning because it amounts to snitching by some very important state agencies.”
John Stauffer from Swedish nonprofit Civil Rights Defenders told the AP that the fact that the law passed so narrowly, with 174 votes in favor and 172 against, indicates how much opposition there is in Swedish society.
Teachers and doctors are exempt after pushback
Teachers, doctors and social workers have been exempted from the reporting obligation, following criticism.
Sweden will now make it compulsory for employees of tax authorities, employment and social insurance agencies and prison and probation services, among others, to tell police when they have reason to believe the people they come in contact with do not have the documents required to live in the country.
“Reporting obligations imposed on public agencies create a climate of fear that harms not only undocumented people but everyone who depends on these institutions,” Louise Bonneau from Brussels-based nonprofit PICUM, which supports migrants, told the AP.
The Swedish government has argued that it needs more measures to ensure those who are not legally allowed to stay in Sweden can be returned to their home countries.
The new law contradicts basic human rights of migrants and encourages racial profiling, a group of researchers from three Swedish universities warned in March, referring to a discriminatory practice by which authorities suspect a person of crimes on the basis of their race or ethnicity rather than evidence.
The researchers interviewed public servants about the ethical concerns the new law will bring to their work.
In an example the researchers gave, if a mother who has no legal right to stay in Sweden gives birth, the midwife does not have to report her to police; however, the information about the baby will reach the tax authority, which is obliged to report the family.
“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?”
Such a requirement remains rare in Europe
In 2005, Germany adopted legislation asking public authorities to report migrants without valid residency status, potentially leading to their deportation. The law only applies to some public institutions such as welfare offices, while schools and hospitals are exempted.
Nevertheless, migrants in Germany are known to avoid exercising their right to medical care because of the requirement to obtain a document from the welfare office in advance, which exposes them to reporting to migration authorities.
To address that, several institutions offer healthcare specifically for migrants without valid residency status, usually in large cities like Berlin.
In 2018, the U.K. government revised a policy that had permitted immigration officials to obtain patient information from the National Health Service, following concerns that the arrangement deterred migrants from seeking medical treatment and undermined the confidentiality of patient records.
Under the revised rules, the Home Office was restricted to accessing only the names of people suspected or convicted of crimes who were subject to deportation proceedings.
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Associated Press writers Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin and Brian Melley in London contributed.
