An extended travel ban for children
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns a bill that expands the travel ban in LVU to protect children against honor-related oppression, female genital mutilation, and child marriages 1. SD considers the expansion necessary as authorities have limited opportunities to act if children have already been taken abroad 1. S considers that the legislation needs to be expanded to strengthen the protection, but thinks it is unfortunate that female genital mutilation has been removed from the legal text. M considers that travel bans are significant for stopping trips where children risk being taken abroad 2. MP welcomes the bill and wants to expand it to include conversion attempts 3, but advocates for 20 years as the age limit 3. KD welcomes the legislative changes as a stronger protection 4.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Mona Olin (SD)
Madam Speaker! We are now going to discuss an expanded travel ban for children. The risk that persons residing in Sweden will be subjected to honor-related oppression abroad is particularly great for children and young people. Some children may be sent to another country on so-called upbringing trips, and others are sent abroad to be subjected to female genital mutilation, be married off, or in extreme cases, be murdered.
A report from Socialstyrelsen, published in June 2023, shows that the number of women and girls in Sweden who were at risk of being subjected to female genital mutilation in 2021 was between 13,000 and 23,000. The exact number of people who risk being taken out of the country against their will due to honor-related oppression is difficult to determine.
On 1 July 2020, new rules regarding travel bans and temporary travel bans were introduced in LVU. The rules on travel bans aim to counteract honor-related violence and oppression as well as to prevent children and young people from being taken abroad for marriage or female genital mutilation.
If there is a tangible risk that someone under the age of 18 is being taken abroad or leaves Sweden for the purpose of entering into a marriage or a marriage-like union or to be subjected to female genital mutilation, he or she shall be prohibited from leaving Sweden.
Travel bans are decided by the administrative court following an application by the social welfare committee. In urgent situations, the social welfare committee can decide on a temporary travel ban.
Since Swedish authorities have very limited possibilities to act in other countries if a child has been taken abroad or has left Sweden with the purpose of entering into child marriage or undergoing female genital mutilation, the Sweden Democrats are positive towards the new bill which entails an expansion of the current travel ban in LVU.
The bill means that a travel ban can be decided if there is a significant risk that a child will be taken abroad or leave Sweden and if there are circumstances that could lead to the child's health or development being harmed during the stay abroad due to factors that justify care according to LVU. It can include physical or mental abuse, improper exploitation, lack of care, or other conditions in the living environment. It can also concern the young person's abuse of addictive substances, criminal activity, or other behaviors that are destructive to their social development.
The proposed expansion corresponds to the criteria for deciding on care according to LVU, with the difference being that it is the risks in the living environment during a stay abroad that shall be assessed instead of the risks in the home when it concerns deficiencies in care. When it concerns the young person's own behavior, it is the risks during the stay abroad that shall be assessed.
The proposal also means that confidentiality shall apply to information regarding an individual's personal circumstances at the Swedish Police Authority in activities aimed at enforcing travel bans. Furthermore, the criminal liability for self-help with children is expanded to include actions where a child under 15 years of age is removed or withheld in a manner that prevents interventions according to LVU. The bill aims to, among other things, protect children against harmful stays abroad and prevent children from being taken abroad in violation of a travel ban.
It is high time that these already vulnerable children and young people receive increased protection, and it is good that the bill has been submitted and will enter into force as early as June 1 this year. I wish to vote in favor of the committee's proposal for a decision.
Fredrik Lundh Sammeli (S)
Madam Speaker! Forced marriage and child marriage are not only crimes against individual rights, but they also undermine the foundation of our society, which is built on the principle of equality and the equal value of all human beings. Every time a child or a young person is forced into marriage, it is a failure for our society.
Female genital mutilation is another form of barbarity that primarily affects girls and young women. It is a brutal violation of their bodily integrity and constitutes a constant reminder of the structural inequality and discrimination that women face around the world.
Conversion trips, where children and young people are sent abroad to be forced into religious or cultural norms against their will, are another way in which their rights are violated and their freedom is deprived.
This multifaceted issue requires a comprehensive strategy to be combated effectively. We cannot allow our children and young people to be victims of these atrocities, and that is why the Social Democratic government took the initiative for the legislation on travel bans that has now applied for four years and whose purpose is to protect every child from abduction abroad and ensure every child's and young person's right to a life free from oppression and coercion.
Madam Speaker! The removal of children and young people to subject them to honor-based oppression is a scourge that contradicts our society's most fundamental principles of freedom and justice. Every case is a heartbreaking reminder that there is important work to be done to protect the most vulnerable in our society.
The Act on travel bans gives social welfare committees the right to decide on travel bans if it is suspected that there is an acute risk that a child will be taken abroad to enter into a forced marriage or be subjected to female genital mutilation. An adult person who violates the travel ban and nevertheless takes the child abroad or contributes to it can be punished with imprisonment for up to two years.
It is an important law, and it was an important step. But it has also become clear that the legislation needs to be expanded in order to properly meet this complex problem and further strengthen the protection for our children and young people.
Madam Speaker! The organization Existera states that as many as 75,000 girls and women in Sweden may have been subjected to female genital mutilation. But the problem is global. It is extremely important that we, with all our might, signal against female genital mutilation and strengthen the legislation to protect children.
That is why I am pleased to have the opportunity today to debate the expanded legislation, which the Social Democratic government investigated and prepared during the last parliamentary term and which can now become a reality. Now, the travel ban and criminal liability for self-determination with children are being expanded. An expanded travel ban for children is fundamentally an important measure for children in our country who risk being harmed as a result of others' convictions. It can, as you have surely already understood, involve forced marriage, child marriage, genital mutilation, or so-called conversion trips.
We consider, however, it unfortunate that the specific mention of genital mutilation in the proposed legislative text has been removed. Therefore, I move for approval of reservation 1. In the name of honesty, Madam Speaker, I do not believe that the government actually has any other opinion than we Social Democrats on this issue. I am convinced that the government also sees that genital mutilation is an evil that needs to be combated with the means we have available. On the other hand, the choice to remove the wording on genital mutilation in the legislative text, while everything else remains essentially identical, means that there is room for doubt when the law is to be applied. For us, it is important that it is crystal clear what applies when we now decide on this law.
With that said, we Social Democrats still want to emphasize the importance of getting this legislation in place. With the legislation on an expanded exit ban, we get a much-needed additional tool to handle situations where children risk being seriously harmed. It is good, and it is much-needed.
Johan Hultberg (M)
Madam Speaker! "Alarm: 60-something children in Uddevalla missing since the summer holidays" – so read the headline of an article last year in one of my local newspapers, namely Bohusläningen.
I grew up in Uddevalla myself. It is not a particularly large city or municipality. A little over 57,000 people are registered as residents in Uddevalla today. If sixty children disappear since the last summer break in a municipality of Uddevalla's size, all alarm bells should be ringing.
But the alarm bells must, of course, ring much earlier than that. No child shall disappear in Sweden. No school desks shall stand empty after a summer break. All children in Sweden shall have their rights respected. That is why the bill we are now debating is so important. An expanded travel ban is extremely significant to protect children from being taken abroad to, for example, be forced into marriage, be subjected to honor oppression, or be sent on upbringing trips.
Madam Speaker! It is incredibly difficult to help a child who has been taken abroad. That is why it is so important to work preventatively and simply stop travels. This will be easier to do thanks to the government's proposal for an expanded travel ban.
Madam Speaker! Since July 1, 2020, the social services have had the possibility to apply for travel bans. But the provisions on travel bans only cover trips where children risk being taken abroad for the purpose of entering into child marriages or being subjected to female genital mutilation. Unfortunately, there are significantly many more situations that provide grounds to protect children from being taken abroad.
The Government's proposal for new regulations on travel bans therefore involves a much broader scope compared to today. According to the bill, a travel ban can be decided for a child if there is a tangible risk that he or she is taken abroad or leaves Sweden and that his or her health and development will be harmed during the stay abroad.
The list of what could cause the harm that justifies a travel ban - beyond what is already stated in the law today - is proposed to be extensive. The new law states that it can involve harm due to physical or mental abuse, improper exploitation, lack of care, or some other condition in the living environment. It can also involve one's own abuse of addictive substances, criminal activity, or some other socially degrading behavior. The proposal means that the criteria for a travel ban correspond to the criteria that exist for care according to LVU, of course, however, with the difference that it is the risks during the stay abroad that are to be assessed instead of the risks at home.
Madam Speaker! I believe it is very wise to propose corresponding criteria for travel bans as for care according to LVU, for two main reasons. For the first, it is both logical and reasonable that the threshold for travel bans is set at the same level as for care according to LVU. For the second, the implementation of the new provisions on travel bans is facilitated by the fact that the criteria are already established and well-known. It is my conviction that the social services and the judiciary, thanks to being accustomed to applying the provisions for care according to LVU, will without problems be able to apply the new provisions on extended travel bans. The provisions that are proposed shall enter into force as early as June 1.
It is worth mentioning that the government has already tasked Socialstyrelsen with developing and disseminating educational material regarding the new regulatory framework. This is important to ensure that social services across Sweden are aware of the expanded travel ban and can therefore directly use the provisions to protect children.
Madam Speaker! After having gone a bit deeper into what the new regulations say, I want to return to the basic problem, to why travel bans were needed. When SVT last year mapped out child abductions handled by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, it was concluded that it concerned a total of 916 children in just five years, between 2018 and 2022. That is a reprehensibly high figure. At the same time, we know that the dark figure is very large. It is clear that the problem is very extensive and, above all, linked to honor issues, even though also more and more children are being abducted in connection with custody disputes.
Travel bans are an acute protective measure. In the long term, we must continue the work of combating the root causes, first and foremost honor oppression, which has become a common occurrence in Sweden. According to the organization GAPF, Never Forget Pela and Fadime, a quarter of a million young people in Sweden may live under honor oppression.
Madam Speaker! Back to my birthplace Uddevalla and the very large number of missing children there. In the newspaper Bohusläningens reportage series last year, a clear picture emerged of why the number of disappearances has skyrocketed. In many cases, it concerns parents who have become afraid that social services will take their children. They have been frightened by the extensive and serious disinformation campaign that has now been ongoing for several years. To reduce the number of disappearances, it is therefore also important to combat the so-called LVU campaign.
That is why I am pleased that Minister Waltersson Grönvall has so actively initiated a large, comprehensive and agency-wide effort to counter disinformation. Countering disinformation and increasing trust in and confidence in the social services is crucial to ensuring that all children in Sweden receive the help and protection they need and are entitled to. The extended travel ban is crucial for the possibility of ensuring that no benches remain empty after the now approaching summer holidays.
I vote in favor of the committee's proposal.
Ulrika Westerlund (MP)
Madam Speaker! During 2021 and half of 2022, I worked at MUCF, the Agency for Youth and Civil Society, on a report regarding the living conditions of young hbtqi people. A specific part of the report concerned vulnerability to so-called conversion attempts.
As part of our basis, we used results from the national youth survey, where we had added questions specifically concerning this and about being represented abroad. The national youth survey is aimed at young people between 16 and 25 years old. It is conducted every three years and is part of the youth policy monitoring system.
In 2021, it was sent to an extra large number of young people, 12,000 people, who together represent young people in Sweden in the age group 16-25 years. 50 percent responded. The results showed that even though conversion attempts and being taken away abroad is not something that affects any large group of Sweden's young people, there were examples of young people who had been subjected to this among those who responded.
Approximately 1 percent of those who responded stated that they had been threatened with being sent on a re-education trip, being deported from Sweden in general, or being forced to marry. Approximately half a percent stated that they had actually experienced any of these things and were not just threatened.
At the same time as we worked on our report at MUCF, work was also being done on a memorandum at the Ministry of Social Affairs regarding the travel ban. It is that which forms the basis for the proposal that we are debating here today. The previous government took the initiative on this, and the memorandum was presented in May 2022. We naturally welcome that the current government is proceeding with the issue.
Madam Speaker! Miljöpartiet welcomes the bill which will strengthen children's rights. Until now, it has been possible to issue travel bans in connection with the risk of child marriage and female genital mutilation. But the issue is broader, and children and young people may need to be protected from being taken away for other reasons as well.
It can, for example, involve so-called upbringing trips, conversion attempts in another country, or situations where children, for various reasons, sometimes honor-related, can be forced into situations in the home country that can be equated with child abuse. The memorandum used the term harmful stays abroad for children to clarify that it can involve a number of different situations, which can also sometimes change during the stay.
The proposal in the bill applies to children and young people under 18 years of age. A number of referral bodies have pointed out that the age limit should be extended from 18 to 20 years. Among others, several county administrative boards, the Gender Equality Authority, GAPF, Save the Children, Unizon, and Sweden's ambassadors in Beirut and Nairobi have submitted this. The Gender Equality Authority compares it with the regulations in the United Kingdom, where there is no age limit.
We agree that 18 years is too low an age to have as an upper limit. A young person who is subjected to severe pressure can have difficulty standing up for themselves and resisting even after they have turned 18. A protection should therefore exist for an additional couple of years. We agree that a reasonable limit is 20 years, that is, until the young person has turned 21.
The government writes that since the investigator has only looked at travel bans for children and not for young adults, there is also no preparatory basis to address the issue within this legislative matter. We believe, therefore, that the government should look into the issue specifically and come back.
Madam Speaker! Miljöpartiet welcomes the proposal regarding the possibility of an extended travel ban. But in parallel, there is also a need for increased efforts for children who have been taken away against their own or a parent's will and are located abroad, but without the possibility for Swedish authorities to help them back home.
As the Gender Equality Authority describes in its report, when children are forced to take responsibility for their own protection, children and young people in such situations can be exposed to very difficult experiences. The Gender Equality Authority summarizes: "Isolation, control, death threats and other forms of psychological violence, as well as economic violence, physical violence, sexual abuse, child and forced marriages and conversion attempts. Boys and young men are, to a higher extent than girls and young women, taken to different types of reform schools, not infrequently with some form of religious orientation. It appears that on such institutions, forced medication, abuse and lack of food can occur. For girls and young women in reform schools, virginity checks also occur."
With some countries, Sweden has agreements so that authorities can provide assistance, but not with others. When children have been taken to other countries in violation of current legislation, it can be very difficult to provide the support needed for them to be able to return home. We want Sweden to increase its commitment to establish structures for interventions and support for these children.
Furthermore, legislative changes are required so that children who have been taken out of the country without permission are not automatically removed from the population register and lose their Swedish citizenship. The investigation Requirements for knowledge in Swedish and social studies for Swedish citizenship (SOU 2021:2) proposes that the provisions on deprivation of Swedish citizenship in the Swedish Citizenship Act should be expanded with requirements for the child's consent and that a deprivation must not conflict with the best interests of the child. Miljöpartiet considers that the government should move the proposal forward and has also noted that the government has indicated this in a referral to the Council on Legislation regarding amendments to the Citizenship Act.
The Government should also ensure that the investigations and reviews that have been carried out, among others by the Gender Equality Authority, regarding authorities' routines and handling of abduction cases are followed up and lead to improvements.
Miljöpartiet believes that a permanent coordination center should be established to help children and young people who have been taken abroad for honor-related purposes to return home. A national follow-up system for cases where a child or an adult has been abducted should also be established.
Madam Speaker! For the new legislation to function well, it is highly important that the social services have the resources required to manage it. On the one hand, training in what it entails is reasonably required, and on the other hand, developed methods of work and resources are required so that the children who need this protection actually receive it.
We therefore consider that the government should as soon as possible and in depth investigate which resources are needed to enable the legislation to be applied in the way it is intended.
We welcome that the National Board of Health and Welfare was commissioned in March this year to develop and disseminate educational material regarding the proposed new regulations on an expanded travel ban for children, but also believe that the government must provide sufficient resources.
I support all of the Green Party's reservations but move for the approval of reservation 3.
Martina Johansson (C)
Madam Speaker! I agree with what the previous speaker has said about it being good that the legislation is now being finalized. It is a law that will ensure that fewer girls and boys risk being taken abroad. It is a law that expands the possibility for social services to apply for travel bans. It is very good that it will be finalized before the summer of 2024.
It should mean that fewer children are taken abroad because the parents want to send them abroad for conversion therapy, for upbringing trips, for marriage or marriage-like conditions, or for genital mutilation. Regardless of the reason, it is very good for the individual child. It is a good protection for all children living in Sweden.
At the same time, it is important that in this work, in the daily work in our municipal activities, one continues to work and cooperate with parents. It is about working with parental education and, together with other cooperating organizations, strengthening and clarifying the parental role. It is a matter of providing support early to children and young people and their parents in contacts with BVC and preschool. Children have the right to live their lives in safety in the way they want to live.
I want to add to this debate that it is important that we in Sweden move forward with reviewing the criminalization of conversion therapy in Sweden. It is a matter of sending an additional signal, and it is important that people know that it is not okay to expose their children to this.
It is an important law that is in place. It is good that it is [passed] before the summer of 2024. With that, I move for approval of the committee's proposal.
Camilla Rinaldo Miller (KD)
Madam Speaker! I want to begin by expressing my support for the committee's proposed decision. I stand behind the government's proposal for legislative amendments, and I move for the rejection of all reservations. We Christian Democrats do so because we want to protect children from being subjected to, for example, child marriages during stays abroad.
Madam Speaker! As a Christian Democrat, I am happy to speak about family policy and, of course, about the best interests of the children. It is about the fact that children are our most important citizens, that all children are equally worthy, and that children who receive a secure and safe upbringing also contribute to a secure society. This applies, of course, to children in all families. Parents are, of course, key figures in providing this for the children. But when parents do not manage it or risk making decisions that can negatively affect the children, society must act.
When we debate today, it is once again with the best interests of the children in focus. The bill will result in stronger protection against parents, relatives and other adults exposing children to harmful stays abroad.
Several referral bodies have expressed a positive view toward the proposed changes to the law. Let me just read a few lines from the referral response from Unicef in Sweden: "UNICEF Sweden believes that an expansion of the application of the travel ban is in line with children's rights according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Convention on the Rights of the Child is clear that children shall be protected from all forms of violence, abuse, neglect, or mistreatment. We therefore share the investigation's assessment that an expansion of the travel ban, where more forms of vulnerability and violations than today are included, is needed to protect children against harmful stays abroad."
On 1 January 2020, the Convention on the Rights of the Child finally became Swedish law. It was a proposal that the Christian Democrats had been proactive in, and we had a large share in it finally becoming a reality. But such a change in law must never just become a symbolic act and a paper product. It is required that it is also followed. The bill that we are discussing today will be a reinforcement that the Convention on the Rights of the Child is followed and proof that it also works in reality.
Simultaneously, work is underway as Socialstyrelsen was commissioned as recently as March this year, 2024, to develop and disseminate educational material regarding the proposed new regulations on an expanded travel ban for children. When the assignment is carried out, Socialstyrelsen shall obtain knowledge and views from Linköping University and Barnafrid, a national center for knowledge on violence against children, as well as engage in dialogue with Jämställdhetsmyndigheten, the Children's Ombudsman, and the Agency for Family Law and Parenting Support. The assignment is to be finalized by March 31, 2027. It is good that the government has tasked the agency with disseminating knowledge about the new regulations and also obtaining knowledge from expert agencies and universities.
Madam Speaker! Based on what we have heard in previous speeches and by reason of the proposal that the government has put forward, I wish once again to only move for the approval of the committee's proposal for a decision.
A child should always be allowed to be a child. Regardless of the family circumstances under which a child lives, they shall be allowed to be a child and not be subjected to either physical or mental abuse, such as involuntary interventions or forced marriages.
Therefore, we welcome the proposal for amendments to the Penal Code to protect children from harmful stays abroad and to prevent them from being taken abroad at all in violation of the travel ban. As a Christian Democrat, mother, and fellow human being, I believe that children are our most important citizens and our future. We shall do everything to ensure that they receive a safe and secure upbringing.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.