Response to interpellation 2023/24:80 on the deportation of terrorist sympathizers

Statsrådet Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)

Madam Speaker! Tobias Andersson has asked me if I intend to work to ensure that the investigation into lack of integrity includes glorification of or other support for terrorism, and what measures I and the government intend to take so that foreign citizens who support terrorism shall be deported.

As background to the questions, Tobias Andersson points out how the terrorist attacks against Israel and the indiscriminate killings have been celebrated in demonstrations and on social media here in Sweden.

The government has unequivocally condemned the terrorist organization Hamas's attacks against Israel. As Minister for Migration, I am firmly determined to persistently counter hate and extremism.

It is important that other deficiencies in lifestyle, besides criminal activity, should also be able to lead to a rejection of applications for residence permits or the revocation of residence permits. A greater scope for denying residence permits in cases of less serious crimes should also be considered.

According to the Tidö Agreement, an investigation shall be commissioned to analyze the possibilities for the deportation of foreigners due to lack of conduct. As examples of such deficiencies, participation in violence-promoting or extremist organizations or environments that threaten fundamental Swedish values are cited. The Government will appoint an investigation that shall conduct a review of the Aliens Act and the Aliens Ordinance to increase the possibilities to remove foreigners due to deficiencies in their lifestyle and to make it possible to revoke residence permits in more cases than what occurs today. The Government intends to return with a decision on the committee directive where the investigator's mandate is further developed. I cannot anticipate that decision.

The government is not satisfied with this, however.

The Government intends to return to the Riksdag in the near future with a proposition containing proposals for certain changes to the regulatory framework on security matters according to the Aliens Act. The proposals aim to make the regulatory framework more purposeful.

A new regulatory framework for qualified security matters entered into force in the summer of 2022 through the Act on Special Control of Certain Foreigners. The new law implies, among other things, expanded possibilities to deport foreigners who constitute qualified threats to Sweden's security. The law covers foreigners who can be assumed to be likely to commit or otherwise contribute to a crime according to the Terrorist Offences Act or who can constitute a serious threat to Sweden's security. The law also means that more coercive measures may be used, that the requirements for obtaining permission for secret coercive measures have been lowered, and that penalties for crimes in the act have been tightened. Given the deteriorated security situation, there is, however, reason to review what additional measures need to be taken so that society can protect itself against foreigners who constitute qualified threats to Sweden's security. The Government therefore plans to appoint an inquiry which shall, among other things, review these issues.

The government recently decided to appoint an inquiry to submit proposals on tightened requirements for Swedish citizenship. It can take a long time to detect certain types of security-threatening activities, and in many cases, it is not feasible to obtain information from authorities in the former home country. A requirement for longer residence in Sweden would therefore improve the authorities' opportunities to obtain information and assess the foreigner's lifestyle over time.

Thus, the government has appointed a constitutional committee to review whether the right to citizenship should be changed to enable the revocation of citizenship in certain cases.

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Tobias Andersson (SD)

Madam Speaker! I thank you for the Minister's answer.

I submitted my interpellation just a few days after Hamas's extensive terror attacks against Israel. Even then, few could escape seeing the horrific images and video clips that had circulated on social media. The initial news reporting bore witness to torture, rape, desecration and more, which were said to have occurred systematically and deliberately.

Today we know even more. Israel has also invited hundreds of journalists to a tech-free room to view material that truly bears witness to sadistic actions by Hamas terrorists, where defenseless Israeli civilians, including children, are tortured and murdered in front of the eyes of family members.

The hatred towards Israel and towards Jews is so deeply rooted among these Hamas supporters that there is even a recorded conversation where one from Hamas, in the middle of the slaughter of Jews, calls his parents and boasts that he has succeeded in murdering ten people with his bare hands, something that the parents in the conversation express themselves positively about.

Regardless of what various Palestinian agitators do to legitimize and relativize the lightning attack from Hamas, it cannot be escaped that it was characterized by a rarely seen barbarity and claimed over a thousand Israeli lives. The number of injured and kidnapped amounts to several hundred. On social media, several have gloomily noted that so many civilian Jews have not been murdered in a single day since the Holocaust.

Madam Speaker! Against this appalling background, I would like to thank the Minister for the government's clear position. It cannot have escaped anyone that the government has condemned Hamas's terror attack and stood firm by Israel's side since then. I only wish that everyone had reacted with the same consternation as the Minister and I, that everyone who lives and works in Sweden had stood up against terrorism, against kidnappings, against sexual violence and against murder.

Unfortunately, that is not the case. Instead, these horrific atrocities have been celebrated across the country. Across Sweden, it has been celebrated that over a thousand Israelis have been murdered. Car parades with Palestinian flags, fireworks, video clips on social media, demonstrations and more show how widespread the support is for terror against Jews in certain groups that unfortunately exist in Sweden.

Madam Speaker! My spontaneous reaction when I see thousands of people with an immigrant background celebrating that Hamas has burned infants, raped women to the extent that bones have broken in their bodies and hacked people to death is that no one who celebrates such atrocities belongs in our country. I truly do not believe that anyone who becomes happy over such abuses can ever adapt to our society and our way of life or become part of our community of values. They do not belong here. They have never belonged here and will never belong here.

Let us be clear that terror sympathizers can no longer be allowed to plague our society with their presence.

I will return in the next speech with comments on many of the proposals that the Minister has mentioned.

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Nima Gholam Ali Pour (SD)

Madam Speaker! I believe most of us were shocked when we saw the images from Israel on social media and on TV. Once and for all, we have had it proven that Hamas, this terrorist organization that some within the Social Democrats and many within the Left want to have a dialogue with, consists of barbarians who attack women and children. Through their actions, they have also placed the population in Gaza in a very dangerous situation and created a risk for a larger regional war in the Middle East, which would be devastating for the world economy.

Despite being in shock when I saw the horrific images from Israel, I knew what the cheering and celebrating in Malmö was about when I heard it. As a Malmö resident who has nevertheless struggled with the issue of antisemitism imported from the Middle East, I knew immediately that it was people celebrating the horrific event by taking to the streets and publicly showing their joy over Jews being murdered by Hamas terrorists.

It did not shock me at all. This attitude exists among many who have immigrated from the Arab countries, where one harbors a hatred towards Jews. The hatred is so strong that one can even celebrate that Jews are being murdered. That attitude has long existed among far too many Arabs in Malmö. I believe similar values exist in other large cities in Sweden among a certain proportion of the Arabic population. Perhaps not everyone goes out and celebrates, but they still see the Jews as their enemies.

I must probably agree with the interpellor that it is time to make a statement. It is, among other things, about making a statement that they shall not bring their wars from their home countries here. If these people had any form of conflict in their home countries, there is no place for that conflict in Sweden.

It is also about clearly marking that we have no respect whatsoever for their rotten values. This also applies to hatred against Jews, women, LGBTQ people, Swedes, or Christians. Such things do not belong in Sweden. Such behavior may be sanctioned by the state in their home countries, but these behaviors are not welcome in Sweden. People who behave in such a way are also not welcome in Sweden. It is also important to emphasize. You who hold these values, who celebrate that people were raped and tortured, are not welcome in Sweden.

I am glad that there are no differing opinions on this today, because we do not have a Social Democratic government that needs to satisfy a certain proportion of its voters. We have a Tidö government that works for Sweden's best interests. It means that in one way or another, deport foreigners who have these objectionable values and who go out and celebrate the violence against the Jews. It is very important to show decisiveness against these groups, because Sweden is not to be a country that celebrates murder and torture.

Of course, the Jews in Sweden do not feel safe regarding the government, just as the ruling Social Democratic politicians in Malmö show total passivity when people with an Arabic background celebrate terror attacks against Jews. But the groups that celebrate the violence will notice that there will be no place for them in Sweden when the Tidö parties' legislation is implemented.

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Statsrådet Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)

Madam Speaker! The developments in Israel and Gaza are extremely concerning. The government condemns, as stated, the unreserved attacks against Israel carried out by the terrorist organization Hamas.

It is sad and loathsome to see that in many places in Sweden there are people who actually celebrate Hamas's horrific actions. To celebrate and rejoice at the hideous scenes that took place and are taking place in Israel is completely unacceptable. It is actually difficult to find words for it. I believe that many around Sweden feel the same horror that I, Tobias Andersson and Nima Gholam Ali Pour do.

The vast majority of people who have arrived in Sweden do not sympathize with violence-oriented extremism. There are, however, obviously, people with such sympathies who have come to Sweden and who have contributed to an extremist environment having emerged. There are also examples of newcomers who have undergone radicalization after they have settled here.

Public support and confidence in migration policy depend on foreigners who are in Sweden following Swedish laws and respecting fundamental values here. I mean that for far too long we have disregarded the importance of this and of those who have come here being fully integrated, also regarding Swedish values.

Madam Speaker! It is urgent to put forward proposals that give Swedish authorities and courts completely different conditions to act. For me, it is obvious that there is a need for sharpened requirements on an honest way of life and increased opportunities for the revocation of residence permits. Just as I have said before, it is difficult to see that someone who hails the death that the terrorist spreads has a place in Swedish society.

Furthermore, the government, as I have already touched upon, is in the process of making changes to the regulatory framework regarding security matters according to the Aliens Act. We are tightening the requirements for Swedish citizenship, and we are reviewing the possibility of, in certain cases, revoking Swedish citizenship.

We are also reviewing return migration. We presented directives for such an investigation yesterday. Even the legislation aimed at more serious security threats will be reviewed, just to mention one thing.

With this said, I also want to emphasize that among those who have immigrated to Sweden, there are very many hardworking and integrated individuals who should be given all opportunities here. Unfortunately, for natural reasons, they end up in the shadow of those who do not behave themselves and of political debates that are focused on the problems and how they should be solved.

It is a major problem that so many people today oppose our fundamental democratic values and even actively act to in one way or another destabilize our country and create insecurity. I think they should choose to live in another country than Sweden.

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Tobias Andersson (SD)

Madam Speaker! Thank you for the answers, Minister!

There is a lot going on. I know that the minister is working hard on these important issues together with my and Nima's colleagues, not least in the committee that handles these issues.

I want to highlight some of what the minister pointed out and which would definitely have had a real effect on those whom we have problematized in this interpellation debate: those who deliberately go out and celebrate the murders and the torture of Israeli civilians.

I look forward to reviewing the government bill with proposals for certain amendments to the regulatory framework on security matters according to the Aliens Act, which the Minister mentions. It is evident that the existing legislation in these areas has been deficient. It is not equipped for the situation and threat landscape that Sweden finds itself in today.

Furthermore, strengthening the significance of Swedish citizenship, which is the ambition of the investigation that was recently commissioned, is also positive, not least due to the reasons the Minister states in his response. Perhaps the greatest reason in this context is that a requirement for longer residence in Sweden would improve the authorities' opportunities to obtain information and assess the foreigner's lifestyle over time.

For example, the type of sympathies expressed during the celebrations in connection with October 7 and Hamas's terror attack against Israel had made the foreigners' actual loyalty visible. The authorities could have noted that these are individuals who seem to value their affiliation with Hamas or with Palestine—however they choose to define it—higher than their Swedish connection. Consequently, they are absolutely not ready or eligible to receive Swedish citizenship, with all the rights associated with it.

In this context, when we rattle off proposals that the government is working on, the press conference can also be mentioned where the government yesterday informed about the investigation that has been commissioned to review the conditions and incentives for increased return migration. A lot is being done very well in this area, Madam Speaker. It is only a pity that previous governments have been so naive regarding the actual security threats that exist in Sweden. The objective with these and other proposals is clear, at least for me.

No foreigner who hates Sweden and has their loyalty with terrorists should have a place in Sweden. Those who gather with friends and acquaintances to celebrate that Islamist terrorists murder, rape and kidnap civilian Jews in Israel have no business being here. They constitute a threat to Jews in Sweden, our way of life and our values. For me as a legislator, it is mostly about finding a way forward and a means to achieve the goal. The goal is to get rid of them from Sweden. Adjustments of the Aliens Act, tightened requirements for citizenship, increased repatriation, and so on are definitely good means to achieve that goal.

I also believe that the conduct tool, depending on its design, can become central. In a broader sense, one should allow authorities to make an assessment of whether the foreigners in question have lived up to what can be considered honest conduct. The Minister highlighted in his answer that one could, among other things, look at whether they have participated in violence-promoting or extremist organizations. I think it is absolutely obvious that all those who have celebrated Hamas's terror belong to that category and would need to leave Sweden due to a lack of conduct.

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Nima Gholam Ali Pour (SD)

Madam Speaker! Something to take up in this context is the government's decision in June regarding a referral to the Council on Legislation, where one of the proposals is that residence permits can be revoked if it can be assumed that a foreigner will engage in activities linked to terrorism in another country. I believe that such a provision makes a big difference when it is implemented because many terrorist organizations have seen Sweden as a haven. Several Social Democratic politicians encourage that view.

It was not long ago that a Hamas conference was held in Malmö - of all places - where the Social Democrats' representative in the parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs participated as a guest of honor. It is important that the voters know that we are getting legislation in this country that makes it impossible for Sweden to continue being a haven for terrorists and terrorist sympathizers who come to Sweden.

One cannot roleplay as Che Guevara in any Swedish municipality and collect money for terrorist organizations such as Hamas, which creates chaos and destruction in the Middle East affecting both Jews and Arabs. If you want to support terrorism, you have nothing to do in Sweden. This will become crystal clear before the end of the mandate period.

We have enough conflicts in Sweden. We do not need to import other countries' conflicts. If the left is so eager to show solidarity with someone – start by showing solidarity with the Swedish people, who today live in a very insecure existence because of the Social Democrats' policy! When we clarify that Sweden is not the world's social agency, it will also become clear that Sweden is not a place for foreign conflicts that have nothing to do with the Swedish people's future and prosperity.

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Statsrådet Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)

Madam Speaker! I get the feeling that we are in very much agreement here in the chamber, and I am glad about that. I still think it is important that this issue is brought to attention.

I think that Sweden has historically been very naive. In some way, we have wanted to be as kind as possible and have therefore welcomed very many to our country without taking full responsibility for ensuring that they also truly integrate into society. That type of immigration is not sustainable in the long run, and this development has been allowed to continue in Sweden for far too long. The government is turning that around now.

For those watching the debate, I will now explain a little bit about what we intend. We have not yet presented any directives to the inquiry, but they will be submitted shortly. It is about investigating the possibility of deporting foreign citizens due to lack of integrity. It is actually nothing new in Swedish law, as that possibility existed until 2005. By lack of integrity, conditions such as, for example, lack of regulatory compliance; association with criminal organizations, networks, or clans; substance abuse; participation in violence-oriented or extremist organizations or environments that threaten fundamental Swedish values, or if there are otherwise clearly established remarks regarding the lifestyle. It is a bit old-fashioned Swedish, but that is how it has been expressed previously. We want to investigate the possibility of reintroducing this.

In conclusion, I want to emphasize that the proposal must live up to all requirements regarding legal certainty, fundamental principles of legal certainty, and protection of fundamental freedoms and rights. Careful considerations must, of course, be made in relation to what is stipulated in the Swedish Constitution, the European Convention, and EU law. International law obligations shall, of course, be followed.

In conclusion, I also want to express a frustration that we have allowed the development to go as far as it has. I am very impatient, just as I perceive the interpellants to be as well, but I feel secure in the knowledge that we have a solid majority to actually implement the changes that Sweden needs and reverse the development. I wish that the Social Democrats, who sat in government for eight years before us, had managed to do more. But it is quite obvious that in their cooperation, they chose to let other voices be heard louder. Therefore, we are where we are, and therefore the government must take rather drastic measures.

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Tobias Andersson (SD)

Madam Speaker! Thank you again for the answer, Minister!

I would also like to dwell a little on the term "vandel" (misconduct/malpractice), which the Minister used in their latest post. When the government has processed the investigation directives, the investigation has been delivered to the government, a referral to the Council on Legislation has taken place, and a government bill has finally landed here in the Riksdag, I promise that we in the Riksdag will handle this very quickly. I look forward to the work until then being carried out expeditiously by the Tidö parties, not least by Maria Malmer Stenergard personally as the responsible minister, so that this is completed as quickly as possible.

Madam Speaker! My obvious goal in having deportation as a tool to expel foreigners is to ensure something as simple as that if one is in Sweden, one should also primarily feel one's identification with and belonging to Sweden as a state and country, not to a terror sect in the Middle East. If an individual still has Hamas at the top of their priority list when they are in Sweden, or if the hatred against Jews around the world and specifically in Israel overshadows one's love for the country that welcomed them, namely Sweden, one absolutely has nothing to do here. We need to design the deportation tool in such a way that this goal can be fulfilled. That is my message to the Minister.

What worries me moving forward is not whether the Tidö parties have the ability to agree on this, but that there are political forces that will likely oppose something as simple as standing up for Israel and opposing Hamas. This is unfortunately visible, not least in this chamber. It is a broader societal problem that has affected other political parties, but fortunately not ours.

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Statsrådet Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)

Madam Speaker! I would like to thank both Tobias Andersson and Nima Gholam Ali Pour for this debate, which is truly important to highlight how serious it is that we have individuals who so openly praise – and are allowed to praise – the death that terrorism spreads.

I promise to act as promptly as possible, and I am very grateful for the cooperation we have between our four parties. I am convinced that we all agree that we must move forward quickly with this.

We have a responsibility to stand up against the hate and threats that we see in our society, and a heavy responsibility rests on us as politicians in both the Riksdag and the government to ensure that authorities receive the tools needed so that we can reverse the development in Sweden and ensure that Swedes are safe. What we do now is significant for what kind of country Sweden will be in the future, and we simply must not fail.

The interpellations debate was hereby concluded.

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