Migration Agency may pause deportations of teenagers

Sweden’s Migration Agency has not ruled out temporarily pausing deportations of teenagers while new legislation is prepared, the agency’s director general told SVT.

The Social Democrats, Left Party, Green Party and Centre Party have agreed on who would be covered by a proposed law to halt the deportations. The measure would apply to people who lived legally in Sweden as minors with their families, had a residence permit application rejected on or after July 20, 2021, have not deliberately avoided contact with authorities since then, and still have family ties in Sweden.

The proposed law would not cover people ordered deported because of a crime, or those whose way of life has been found dishonest by a government decision or court ruling.

The parties said the number affected would be greater than the number covered by a safeguard introduced by the Tidö parties on October 1, but they could not give an exact figure. “It won’t be thousands of people, and maybe it won’t be ten either. Somewhere in between,” Social Democrat Ida Karkiainen said.

Parliamentary officials will now work on drafting the legislation. Green Party representative Annika Hirvonen said the parties would push to have it ready as soon as possible, but could not say when it would take effect.

Migration Agency Director General Maria Mindhammar said she would consider a pause once she had received formal details from the parliamentary committee. The agency paused some cases before the summer after the Tidö parties announced plans for a safeguard. Mindhammar said there was no provision requiring a director general to take that step, and described it as a decision she made out of goodwill.