Report of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation
Sweden
During World War II, Sweden formally maintained a neutral status and at the same time made significant concessions to Nazi Germany by providing resource support and territory for the transit of Hitler's troops to the Eastern Front.
In Sweden, the fact of Soviet troops entering the Baltic States and Eastern Europe is currently widely accepted as "occupation", the expansionist nature of the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940 is emphasized, and Nazism and Communism are equated to "totalitarian regimes". At the same time, the decisive contribution of the Soviet Union to the victory over Nazism is deliberately downplayed, while the role of the USSR's allies, led by the United States, is magnified.
Double standards are also observed with regard to Nazi collaborators. The Swedish authorities have not initiated any investigation of the 270 Swedes who fought as part of the Waffen-SS, many of whom, according to research in recent years, were implicated in the Holocaust. Swedish law does not allow for the prosecution of World War II criminals who have found refuge in the country, including those of Swedish origin.
Double standards are visible in Sweden's attitude to today's manifestations of neo-Nazism and racism. The Swedish leadership has a very ambiguous attitude towards condemning the glorification of Nazism in the Baltic States. Official Stockholm publicly repented for extraditing a group of Latvians, Lithuanians and Estonians who had fought on the side of Nazi Germany to the USSR in 1945, and is also turning a blind eye to radical statements on the falsification of World War II by the current authorities of these states. Cases of glorification of Nazism, acts of vandalism and the dismantling of monuments to Soviet soldiers-liberators in several European countries (primarily in Poland, the Baltic States, Ukraine and the Czech Republic) also remain unaddressed by the Swedish leadership and do not receive any noticeable coverage in the Swedish media.
Similar permissive approaches are also applied to neo-Nazi manifestations in Ukraine where, in 2014-2016, more than 30 Swedish ultra-rightists travelled freely to participate in combat operations as members of the nationalist battalions Azov and Aidar as part of the so-called Anti-Terrorist Operation in the Donbass. During the current crisis in Ukraine, the Swedish authorities are also silent about the Nazi nature of the Kiev regime and the crimes committed by Ukrainian national radicals. The Swedish mercenaries involved in the Ukrainian national battalions (at least 400 persons) are referred to as employees of humanitarian organizations.
In these circumstances, it is not surprising that in December 2022 Stockholm, which had been consistently following a common EU approach, voted against the Russia-sponsored UN General Assembly resolution on Combating glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism and other practices that contribute to fuelling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance (along with EU member states, it abstained from voting on the initiative condemning neo-Nazism and other contemporary manifestations of racism).
At the same time, Swedish municipal authorities are diligently monitoring the condition of Soviet military burials located on their territory. Due to the efforts of Swedish activists, for instance, research was conducted to determine the fate of Soviet servicemen interned in the Buringe camp (Södermanland).
Right-wing radical and neo-Nazi movements are still active in Sweden.
The primary source and main conductor of right-wing extremist ideology in Swedish society is the Nordic Resistance Movement (Nordiska motståndsrörelsen, NRM), a far-right organization with about 200-300 active members (NGOs cite a higher number), which extends its influence to neighboring countries Norway and Finland. The NRM operates in Sweden in a completely legal basis and has "non-partisan" supporters. In particular, representatives of the country's main anti-migrant parliamentary party, the Sweden Democrats (SD), were reported to be explicitly sympathetic to neo-Nazis and even to be members of this organization in the past.
The NRM has its roots in the Swedish Resistance Movement, established in 1997 through the merger of several right-wing extremist structures operating in the second half of the 20th century. In 2015, it changed its name to the NRM, bringing together the four Northern European branches – Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and Finnish. The NRM remains cantered in Sweden, which is home to its headquarters (Grängesberg, Dalarna County) and the majority of its members. Since the same year, the organization has been headed by Simon Lindberg.
The NRM chose the Tiwaz rune (or Tyr rune) as its symbol, which also was used by Nazi structures, including the Hitler Youth. This is not the only borrowing from Nazi Germany. There are reports that regular trainings and educational seminars organized for NRM members include films glorifying Hitler and propaganda of the works of "classics" of fascism.
Experts note that in 2014-2019, the NRM pursued a strategy of maximum expansion. Presumably, in 2019, it began to refocus its efforts on building a strong group of active members who would effectively manage the organization.
There have been reports that the NRM has its own publishing house, Nationellt Motstånd (National Resistance), which publishes propaganda literature and a newspaper, Nationellt Motstånd (National Resistance).
In its report of May 2022, the Anti-Defamation League, an NGO, highlights three distinctive features of the NRM: (1) fanatical Nazi ideology with cult-like elements, coupled with a declared goal of revolution by any means necessary; (2) a strong emphasis on violence and violent methods of achieving goals, also complemented by a paramilitary structure of the organization; and (3) a rigid hierarchy and an established bureaucratic organizational structure, which has evolved to maintain the group’s coherence even as it has expanded to encompass all of Scandinavia.
The centrepiece of the NRM ideology is antisemitism; the movement is also continually engaging new supporters of the theory of white supremacy in its ranks. According to experts, the movement will further support this attitude by using antisemitic rhetoric as a "key theory" that can explain any other line of far-right extremist thinking. The Anti-Defamation League points out that the objective of the NRM "is to carry out a revolution to overthrow democracy and replace it with a Nazi dictatorship to encompass all of Scandinavia and the Nordic region".
According to Sharon S. Nazarian, ADL Senior Vice President of International Affairs: "What is so alarming about the Nordic Resistance Movement is its obsession with violence and its antisemitic core beliefs". They have held hundreds of combat training sessions in preparation for what they claim will be "the overthrow of European democracies," and teach their supporters to use paramilitary tactics in street fighting and clashes with the police".
The Swedish Security Service’s assessment is that the NRM has both the capacity for terrorism and the intent to commit crimes against the country’s constitutional order. There is evidence that over half of NRM members have been convicted (some more than once) of crimes (including murder and attempted murder, violence, theft, incitement to hatred against specific groups, vandalism of religious institutions, and violations of anti-drug legislation). Law enforcement agencies also point to the fusion of the country's neo-Nazi community with organized crime.
In November 2021, Swedish police arrested a 25-year-old NRM supporter at a farm outside of Gothenburg. Stockpiled homemade bombs, semi-automatic weapons and parts manufactured with a 3D printer, as well as a huge cache of ammunition were found in his house. The detainee was active in chat rooms of neo-Nazi forums and was also interested in organizing mass shootings in schools.
Since the second half of the 2010s, other neo-Nazi movements have also become active in the country. Notable online platforms include Mutgift (this former information resource of the nationalist Party of Swedes is believed to consolidate the country's nationalists), Det fria Sværje, Ingrid ok Karlqvist, the Swedish Nationalist Youth movement, and the Soldiers of Odin. These resources and movements were particularly popular in 2015-2016.
Experts note that the extreme right-wing structures from various states are expanding their activities to the international level and intensifying contacts between them. Thus, thanks to this trend, a branch of the American far-right organization "Alt-right" – Northern European Alternative Right Sector – has been formed in Sweden. Regular "exchanges of experience" between Swedish neo-Nazis and their associates in the Netherlands, Hungary, Poland and other countries are also known.
Neo-Nazis are active initiators of campaigns aimed at inciting interethnic and interreligious discord (on average, they hold about 3,000 events annually in the country, often back-to-back with Holocaust commemoration ceremonies, May Day demonstrations, pacifist and anti-fascist rallies).
In most cases, these are usually individual statements or actions of individuals who profess ultra-right-wing ideology. Many of them have been prosecuted. On 5 November 2019, a case was brought against two students from Skara Municipality (Västra Götaland County, Southwest Sweden) after their statements insulting Jews and saluting Adolf Hitler. On 27 November 2019, Tobial Malvo, a member of the NRM, was tried in Malmö on charges of antisemitism, racial hatred and glorifying Hitler (he was sentenced to probation and a fine). On 9 March 2020, Anders Jonsson, another NRM member, was sentenced to six months in prison for making numerous antisemitic appeals and honoring Hitler.
On 9 April 2020, a 60-year-old woman was prosecuted for repeatedly expressing hatred against migrants and welcoming Hitler.
In recent years, in most cases, the police issue permits to neo-Nazis to hold demonstrations, bringing violators of law and order to justice only after the fact.
The provocative burning of the Koran in front of the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm in January 2023 by Rasmus Paludan, leader of the Swedish-Danish neo-Nazi Stram Kurs (Hard Line) party, caused a wide public resonance.The Swedish police later denied holding similar events in February 2023 following strong criticism from members of the Islamic world. It is noteworthy that the ban exclusively applies to the abuse of the holy book of Islam.
This extremist behavior has also led to a crisis in Sweden's relations with the Islamic world. On 31 July 2023, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation held an extraordinary meeting in connection with the incidents.
Against the backdrop of a complicated negotiation process with Türkiye on Sweden's accession to NATO, human rights organizations accuse Stockholm of making concessions and getting closer to "undemocratic" Ankara.
It should be noted that the country has previously had cases of migrants organizing protests to express insulting attitudes towards Islam, including some of a rather aggressive nature. For instance, in August 2020, a nationalist Koran-burning rally sparked protests in Malmö that soon escalated into aggressive clashes with the police. After about seven hours of protests, involving the burning of cars and stores, the police managed to bring the situation under control. Several persons were detained.
The statistics on hate crimes are alarming (6,000-7,000 cases per year). About 70% of them have xenophobic and racist implications. Most of the risks come from right-wing extremists driven by neo-Nazi and anti-migrant sentiments, as well as radical Islamists. Consequently, the most frequent victims of racially motivated hate crimes are ethnic minorities professing Islam, particularly those of African descent. However, as the investigation practices of such cases show, the offender faces real punishment for such offenses only in 3-5% of cases.
The situation is aggravated by the fact that Sweden has no legal ban on racist organizations on the pretext of the need for absolute respect for fundamental freedoms. Despite calls from most Swedish political parties, efforts to introduce such a ban have been delayed. So, in 2017, the government announced that it had begun work to introduce a ban on the use of Nazi symbols (including the NRM emblem, the Tyr rune), but no concrete results have been achieved.
There are cases of creating registers of citizens on the basis of their nationality, ethnicity, gender (although such registration is legally prohibited in the country). Concerns about the high incidence of police profiling of visible minorities, in particular people of African descent, Muslims and Roma, were expressed by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) in May 2018.
In January 2019, Kalla Fakta, a Swedish TV4 program engaged in journalistic investigations, announced that over the previous few months, about 100 cases of groundless police detentions of non-Swedish looking citizens. In 2021, the Committee against Torture expressed its concern by the remaining practice of ill-treatment and excessive use of force by police officers in Sweden.
The EU Fundamental Human Rights Agency (FRA) noted in its 2019 report that surveys of police officers and people affected by bias against particular ethnicities revealed that 24% of all respondents of African descent had been stopped by the police. Among them, 4 in 10 (41%) described such incidents as racial profiling. Men of African descent are stopped by the police three times more often (22%) than women (7%). FRA notes in its 2022 report, with reference to a content study of academic publications, articles, books and reports published in Sweden, that racism in the public sphere had increased between 2016 and 2021.
Experts of the International Independent Expert Mechanism to advance racial justice in the context of law enforcement and human rights, following their visit to Sweden in early November 2022, called on Stockholm to step up efforts to fight systemic racism and focus on strategies to restore trust between the police and minority groups. They also expressed concerns that the Swedish authorities may be addressing legitimate security challenges, including growing gang criminality, through a response which focuses on over policing, surveillance and undue deprivation of liberty.
International human rights monitoring bodies and mechanisms regularly draw attention to persistent manifestations of hatred in Sweden. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination expressed concern about the presence of racist and extremist organizations in the country and their public demonstrations, as well as the spread of hate speech in the country, including during election campaigns and in the media, particularly emphasizing that the establishment of organizations that promote and incite racial hatred is allowed by the State.
Similar concerns regarding Sweden's record of hate speech against Afro-Swedes citizens, Jews, Muslims and Roma, in particular during election campaigns, but also in the media and online, and the persistence of racially motivated violence in the country, were expressed by the Committee against Torture in November 2014, the Human Rights Committee (HRC) in March 2016 (while reiterating the Committee's previous concern in this regard) and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) in June 2016. It is noteworthy that, despite the explanations provided by Sweden to the HRC on the situation with regard to combating racism, the experts still have concerns about the issue. The Committee against Torture also expressed its concern by remaining threats to minorities and marginalized individuals in the Swedish society despite measures taken to combat hate crime and racism, and police measures to protect religious buildings and communities. Committee encouraged Stockholm to make efforts to prevent and prosecute criminal acts motivated by discrimination, intolerance, hatred or negative stereotypes, and to carry out effective investigations with a view to prosecuting and punishing perpetrators.
In its report on Sweden, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) within the Council of Europe also highlighted an increase in racist and xenophobic hate speech targeted at migrants, Muslims, people of African descent and Roma. The Commission found the law enforcement response to such cases to be insufficient and the number of hate crime cases prosecuted to be low. According to ECRI data, the number of registered cases relating to defamation, expression of racially motivated prejudice has remained at the same level (643 in 2011 and 635 in 2015). However, the number of cases related to threats increased by 20% (1,650 in 2011 and 1,972 in 2015), campaigning against certain groups grew by 39% (396 in 2011 and 552 in 2015), and infliction of damage/graffiti increased by 138% (296 in 2011 and 703 in 2015).
In its 2022 report, the EU Agency for Fundamental Human Rights noted that racism in Sweden was manifested in all public institutions. As evidence, a study based on a review of more than 500 scientific articles, books, monograph chapters and scientific reports published in Sweden between January 2016 and May 2021 was cited. In addition, in 2021 the European Commission pointed out that Swedish national laws do not fully or accurately incorporate EU rules on combating racism and xenophobia and initiated relevant infringement proceedings against Stokholm.
In addition to the aforementioned issues, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination noted in 2018 a significant difference between the number of reported cases of hate speech and hate crimes and the number of their investigations and criminal prosecutions of offenders. According to the Committee, the most frequent victims of racially motivated hate crimes were ethnic minorities, especially those from Africa. The Committee called on the Swedish authorities to effectively identify, register and investigate cases of racist hate speech or incitement to racial hatred and racially motivated violence and prosecute those responsible. Stockholm was also recommended to publicly condemn and distance itself, including in online media, from racist hate speech and xenophobic statements made by public officials and politicians. CERD called on the Swedish authorities to expend the example of national contact points and special hate crime groups throughout the country.
Human rights defenders point out that there are "dark spots" in keeping statistics on hate crimes, as many victims do not turn to law enforcement for lack of funds to finance trials, or simply for fear of "revenge" from their persecutors.
One of the most vulnerable national groups in Sweden is the Jewish community. The situation in Malmö (southern Sweden) is particularly worrying. Representatives of the Jewish diaspora in this city complain that they often face manifestations of aggression from opponents of Israel's policy, whose activity is growing against the background of the traditional pro-Palestinian line of Sweden, the first in the EU to officially recognize the independence of Palestine, and also criticize the local authorities for not paying enough attention to the problem of antisemitism. In 2018, a wave of antisemitic protests and demonstrations swept across Sweden as a result of US President Donald Trump's unilateral decision on the status of Jerusalem. Due to the incessant threats, the Jewish community of Umeå (northeastern Sweden) was dissolved in the same year.
Antisemitic campaigns are regularly carried out by the NRM not only in Sweden, but also in other Nordic countries. Thus, actions organized in October 2020 in nearly 20 different cities in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Iceland included demonstrations in front of synagogues, placing antisemitic posters in public places, and distributing relevant leaflets. Neo-Nazis publish information about this on their websites. The actions by neo-Nazis caused indignation of international Jewish organizations. Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, condemned the coordinated brutal campaign of hatred against Jews in Northern Europe unleashed by the modern-day successors to the Nazis of the NRM. The Simon Wiesenthal Center Director for International Relations Shimon Samuels also sent a letter of concern to the Swedish leadership, urging Stockholm to follow Finland's example of banning the NRM in September 2020, and to take action against the organizers of the anti-Semitic campaign.
In July 2019, in Visby, in the south of the country, NRM activists blocked the entrance to an exhibition on Holocaust survivors organized by the Raoul Wallenberg Institute together with photographer Sanna Sjösvärd, and then entered the grounds, where they chanted anti-Semitic slogans. Arrived at the scene of the incident, the police did not detain the radicals, who left the building unhindered.
In late March 2021, baby dolls splashed with red paint were hung outside the synagogue in Norrköping along with a banner describing the Pesach as the Jewish celebration of the death of Egyptian children. The NRM published a photograph of the installation on its website. The Swedish police initiated an investigation into the alleged commission of a hate crime.
According to Haaretz, in 2021, Sweden recorded an increase in online hate speech, especially in social media. The spread of anti-Semitic rhetoric in social media is most noted among schoolchildren and young people. This resulted in acts of aggression with anti-Semitic overtones against children of Jewish origin. To a large extent such manifestations occur in Malmö.
The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) pointed to an increase in the number of anti-Semitic statements. In particular, the Commission noted a doubling in the number of cases of anti-Semitic propaganda, from 54 in 2011 to 102 in 2015, and threats against Jews, from 77 to 127 over the same period. However, according to ECRI estimates, these figures can be significantly higher, as representatives of the Jewish community do not always contact the police, doubting the effectiveness of law enforcement.
The seriousness of the situation is confirmed by the fact that in its second monitoring study on anti-Semitism (2018) FRA included Sweden in the top three European countries (along with the United Kingdom and Germany) with the most tense situation for Jews, indicating that 82 per cent of representatives of this nationality in the country characterize anti-Semitism as a "serious problem" (for comparison in 2013 – 60 per cent of respondents chose this answer).
The FRA's data on the crimes with an anti-Semitic motive recorded by Swedish law enforcement agencies are significant. In 2020, 170 incidents were reported. A great difference of data for 2018 - 287 incidents - is explained by changes in data collection methodology in 2020.
In February 2021, the European Commission called on official Stockholm to fulfil its obligations under the 2008 EU Framework Decision on Combating Racism and Xenophobia.
The ever-growing Muslim community in the country also faces discrimination. Hidden Islamophobia is a very common phenomenon in the media and in various spheres of public life (especially access to work and social services), which shows the shortcomings of the state that carefully hides this problem.
Violence against Muslims, especially Muslim women in traditional dress, is not uncommon. According to ECRI, the number of cases of Islamophobic threats/attacks doubled between 2011 and 2015 (123 and 247 cases, respectively), Islamophobic defamation increased from 38 to 68 cases, damage from 16 to 76 cases (375 per cent), and anti-Muslim propaganda from 45 to 102 cases (127 per cent).
Of special concern is the situation in Malmö (south of Sweden) – the third largest city in the country which is home to a considerable portion of Muslim refugees as well as to the third largest Jewish community in Sweden. In view of this, right-wing extremist movements have been traditionally strong in the city. Representatives of the Jewish diaspora complain that they often face manifestations of aggression from opponents of Israel's policy, whose activity is growing against the background of the traditional pro-Palestinian line of Sweden, the first in the EU to officially recognize the independence of Palestine, and also criticize the local authorities for not paying enough attention to the problem of anti-Semitism.
The Human Rights Committee and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination drew attention to the problems of discrimination based on religion in March 2016 and in May 2018, respectively, in particular, the HRC expressed concern about a large number of episodes of religious intolerance in Sweden, including physical violence against persons belonging to religious minorities, in particular Muslims and Jews, and attacks on their places of worship, and the fact that law enforcement agencies did not register all such cases. CERD pointed out the difficulties faced by Swedish Muslims, in particular people of African descent, in gaining access to work and housing outside their areas of compact settlement, which can be equated with de facto segregation. Besides, their economic segregation and difficulty accessing health care and education were noted. CERD experts were further concerned about attacks against mosques in Sweden as well as the lack of funds for their protection. The Committee also drew attention to the widespread practice of stereotyping Muslims in the media and by politicians in Sweden.
In the context of religious communities’ protection, CERD raised the issue of the selectivity of the Swedish law enforcement agencies' response to racist offenses. According to experts, the Law on Combating Terrorism (which is also seriously criticized by human rights defenders for violations of citizens' rights) is aimed mainly at the persecution of Muslims, while crimes committed by other groups, including neo-Nazi structures, are not considered by Swedish law enforcement agencies as terrorist acts. The HRC also expressed concern about this practice of "stigmatization of persons" of foreign origin or from among ethnic and religious minorities.
The situation of Swedish Roma, who suffer from deep-rooted prejudices, leaves much to be desired. There are multiple reports of cases of discrimination against members of this minority in public places (in cafes, shops, hotels, hospitals, transport, etc.), labour and housing markets. Biased decisions on depriving Roma people of their parental rights and baseless denial of access to education are quite common.
According to FRA, as of 2019, 20 per cent of Roma children experienced hunger.
The Human Rights Committee in March 2016, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in June 2016 and CERD in May 2018 pointed out the chronic discrimination of Roma in Swedish society, the difficulties of representatives of this people, including citizens of other European Union countries from among the Roma, in obtaining education, employment and health, housing and basic social services, and access to justice. CERD and CESCR also expressed concern about the increasing number of cases of forced evictions of certain groups of Roma living in informal settlements, as well as the fact that hate crimes continue to be committed against them.
FRA also notes that Sweden has a high level of discrimination against Roma and travellers. According to the research on the situation of Roma conducted by FRA in 2019 in five Western European countries (Belgium, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden) and the UK, every second representative of this national minority faced discrimination in the year preceding the research, 44 per cent of respondents faced manifestations of aggression motivated by racial hatred, and one in ten respondents was profiled by police.
In its 2022 report, FRA also cites the launch of a project in Malmö aimed at combating the segregation of Roma in housing (by disseminating information on their rights and advice on building a dialogue with local authorities on this issue). However, there is no evidence yet of its effectiveness.
In Sweden, the situation of migrants or their descendants in the second generation, mainly of African or Asian origin, is also very unfavourable. This category of the population has a lower level of education than the national average, and unemployment, especially among young people, is higher. There is de facto segregation in the study of the Swedish language, and then in educational institutions and, as a result, in the labour market. According to ECRI, this leads to the development of "parallel societies", which, in turn, further hinders the integration of immigrants and their children. Afro-Swedes tend to have low-status and low-paid jobs compared to the rest of the population, despite their level of education. It is more difficult for this category of population than other citizens of Sweden to move up the career ladder.
According to the research, people of African and Asian origin more often face unemployment. Besides, sociological studies have revealed that the risk of being bullied for foreign-born workers is almost four times higher than for natives.
Since 2015, violations against refugees have increased due to the worsening migration crisis. Many migrants, waiting for their asylum applications to be processed for a long time, are housed in ultra-compact concentrations in isolated "ghetto areas", being cut off from education and health systems, as well as from integration and employment opportunities. The Swedes have also been criticized for the persistence of severe restrictions in national migration policy, despite a decrease in the intensity of refugee flows in 2017-2018.
International human rights organizations have criticized Sweden for "extraordinary" legal provisions that make family reunification difficult, the "inhumane" practice of undifferentiated expulsion of Afghans (even if there are threats to their safety at home), the deteriorating mental state of unaccompanied children and adolescents (apathy and suicide attempts due to long waiting for asylum decisions), refugee trafficking (sexual, labour and criminal exploitation, slavery).
The practice of withdrawing protection status from asylum seekers has also been criticized. According to FRA, Sweden has the second highest number of withdrawals of refugee status after Germany in 2021 (1349 and 3690 cases respectively).
The practice of Swedish law enforcement agencies of forcibly removing migrants and asylum seekers and detaining them before doing so was highlighted by the Committee against Torture in November 2014 and December 2021, the Human Rights Committee in March 2016 and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in June 2016. Despite further information provided by the Swedish authorities to the HRC on this issue, experts remained concerned about the situation. In March 2018, N. Muižnieks, then Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, pointed out Sweden's overly strict legal provisions making family reunification difficult, the "inhumane" practice of undifferentiated expulsion of refugees (that is, even when their safety at home is threatened); long periods of unaccompanied children and young people in detention, which worsen the mental health of new arrivals; and human trafficking.
In 2021, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities ruled on an individual complaint, stating that expulsion of a person of Afghan origin back to Afghanistan, despite existing threats to his life, violates Sweden's obligations under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
In 2023, the Committee on the Rights of the Child was deeply concerned about the impact of the 2021 amendments to the Aliens Act (2005) restricting family reunification and eligibility for permanent residence permits and social security. The HRC also expressed fears that the reforms envisaged in the Tidö Agreement will further restrict the rights of asylum-seeking, refugee and migrant children.
The Committee recommended the Swedish authorities to prevent the detention of children on the basis of their or their parents’ migration status, and pointed out the disparities in access to quality education and discrimination, harassment and bullying in schools primarily faced by migrant children and children from socioeconomically disadvantaged families.
FRA, with reference to the corresponding sociological studies, confirms that there is a discriminatory treatment of parents of foreign origin by Swedish school authorities and personnel. According to one of such studies published in 2022, when a total of 3430 Swedish elementary school principals were contacted by sociologists who pretended to be parents with Arabic- or Swedish-sounding names or with low- or high-SES professions. The results show clear signs of discrimination, particularly in regard to ethnic minority aliases.
Local Christians, including representatives of the Russian Orthodox community, who are sometimes forced to avoid advertising their religious symbols, have been feeling uneasy against this background lately.
Since the start of Russia's special military operation to demilitarize and denationalize Ukraine and protect civilians in Donbass, violations of the rights of Russian compatriots living in Sweden (unless 20,000 people) have increased. Not only have there been cases of discrimination against our citizens by the Swedish authorities or an extremely Russophobic atmosphere in the local media, but also beatings for speaking in Russian, dismissals from jobs without explanation and bullying of children. Traditionally, the attitude of the Social Service toward Russian compatriots remains predatory, as migrant families are a priori classified as socially disadvantaged and as a result are put "under control" by the local competent authorities. There is also a near exclusion of managers and employees of small and medium-sized enterprises and NGOs connected to Russia.
The media and social networks strongly promoted the thesis that Russian citizens and compatriots should publicly distance themselves from the policy of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Ukraine. Dissenters received various threats: from resignation to physical violence. Russian speaking children were subjected to bullying in Swedish schools.
Russian-language children's educational centres were among the first victims of Sweden's caveman Russophobia. In fact, they were held hostage to the attitude of their leaders to the events that were taking place: everyone was required to publicly dissociate themselves from the actions of the Russian armed forces and, even better, to condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin personally. In addition, virtually all Russian-speaking children in schools were subjected to ethnically motivated violence and harassment. Swedish teenagers, "freely expressing their opinion in a free country", simply humiliated Russian-speaking children, demanding their expulsion, in the worst case, they were beaten up. Children not only from Russia, but also from other former Soviet republics were harassed. Attempts by parents to appeal to the management of educational institutions to prevent harassment have not always resulted in a resolution of the situation.
The activities of compatriots' organizations, including the Union of Russian Associations in Sweden (Stockholm), the Alliance of Russian Associations in Sweden (Göteborg), Sputnik (Luleå), have been seriously impeded. Swedish authorities on the pretext of "undemocratic" activity of these associations did not only refuse them budget financing, which they received, but also demanded the return of 2022-2023 grants.
Aftonbladet, the biggest Swedish trade union, suspended cooperation with these associations; it had provided them with rent-free premises.
The incoming Ukrainian refugees are also discriminated, inter alia, being forced into prostitution. Besides, FRA claimed that the level of financial support even for this category of refugees was insufficient to ensure an adequate standard of living.
In Sweden, problems related to the protection of children's rights, moreover of racist nature, were reported. In addition to the situation of migrant children and underage girls from Muslim families (they are taken abroad for female circumcision and forced to marry), pedophilia and child prostitution issues were reported. The return of children of fighters who fought on the side of terrorist organizations in Syria has not been easy for Swedish society either. There have been no reports on the measures to solve these problems.
The question of the situation and status of the Sámi – the country's indigenous population living up north – remains a specific human rights problem for Sweden, given the historical conflict between the Sámi and the Swedish state (Sámi used to be forcibly converted to Christianity and subjected to racial experiments, with their culture and language being deliberately suppressed). Industrial and urban development continues to claim Sámi lands, and military exercises in northern territories create obstacles to reindeer herding and their traditional livelihoods.
The proposals made by the special commissions that operated in Sweden from 1997 to 2019 to settle the "land" conflict between the state and the Sámi have not been implemented in practice. According to experts, the reason for this is that they primarily affect areas of special economic interest to state and commercial mining corporations or "reserved" for the location of energy infrastructure.
According to the Living History Forum, Amnesty International and other NGOs, discrimination and racism against the Sámi remain a problem in Sweden in relation to their traditional livelihoods. Often members of national minorities have to defend their right to reindeer herding, hunting, gathering, and shooting predators that threaten the free grazing of livestock and their livestock in years-long legal proceedings.
In particular, in January 2020, in an unprecedented ruling (spanning more than 10 years), the Supreme Court of Sweden found in favour of the inhabitants of a Sámi village in Ellivare, northern Sweden, regarding their exclusive right to hunt and fish in their traditional habitat, inter alia, granting it to third parties without state approval. However, since the Supreme Court's verdict, threats have been made against the Sámi community, even violence and sabotage have been reported (such incidents were mentioned in a joint article by the Norwegian, Finnish and Swedish line ministers in February 2022).
However, individual Sámi victories in the "court field" do not solve the problem of displacement of the indigenous population from their historical homeland. The main culprits are extractive industries and green energy, which have had a negative impact on the environment and the traditional livelihoods of the Swedish Sámi.
A key episode in this track is the concession granted by the government on 22 March 2022 to a local company, Jokmokk Iron Mines AB, to mine iron ore in the country's largest undeveloped deposit in the municipality of Jokmokk. The application was submitted as early as 25 April 2013, but due to widespread criticism from a number of Swedish authorities, NGOs and international organizations, the review process has been delayed for many years. In particular, the State Office for the Protection of Cultural Monuments, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, the regional authorities of Norrbotten county and UNESCO recommended that the project should not be implemented in the light of environmental and cultural and humanitarian aspects.
Independent UN experts have also voiced their concerns. In particular, on 10 February 2022, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, H.F. Kali Tzai, and the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment, D.R. Boyd, issued a joint statement calling on the Swedish authorities not to grant an iron ore mining license for the deposit in question. They have pointed out that a mine in the Sámi area will generate huge amounts of pollutants and toxic waste and threaten the protected ecosystem of the nearby World Heritage Site of Laponia and reindeer migration.
In January 2023, after unveiling government plans and those of the mining LKAB unit to develop the largest rare earth metals deposit in Kiruna (northern Sweden), representatives of Sámi organizations have severely criticized this decision due to serious environmental risks as well as violation of the rights and interests of indigenous peoples of the North.
Not surprisingly, over the past decades, Sweden has repeatedly been the target of criticism by international bodies (including the UN Human Rights Council, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the ILO, the HRC Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Issues, and numerous NGOs) regarding the rights of national minorities (especially the Sámi); but there has been no real progress on the issue.
The range of problems faced by the Swedish Sámi was pointed out, in particular, by the Human Rights Committee in March 2016, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in June 2016, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in April 2018 and ECRI in December 2017. In the conclusion of ECRI, referring to the opinion of representatives of the Sámi community, it is noted that discriminatory manifestations against them continue to take place in everyday life, especially in cities. In some cases, the Sámi are forced to hide or deny their ethnic origin to avoid hostile and reprehensible attitude.
