Residence permits in Sweden may be denied or revoked for individuals who misbehave, according to a proposal from the government's investigator.
What is considered to be shortcomings in a person's lifestyle will be determined in court.
Some examples of so-called poor conduct mentioned when the investigation was presented on Tuesday include: Unwillingness to pay debts, abuse of the welfare system, and statements that "in a context with certain accompanying consequences" can be seen as a security threat. The LVU campaign, where Sweden was subjected to extensive disinformation, is cited as an example.
Risk of censorship
Civil Rights Defenders believes that the legislative proposal is far too vague. It also divides society into an A-team and a B-team, according to the human rights organization.
We create, linked to freedom of expression, a part of the population that can express themselves in a certain way within the framework of the law and then another part of the population that needs to relate to something else. This means that people risk censoring themselves, says John Stauffer.
Associations with criminal gangs are also something that may constitute poor conduct. Stauffer wonders what should be defined as associations.
Greater differences
The proposal primarily affects foreign citizens who have work permits, are students in Sweden, or have come here as relatives.
There have always been certain differences between those who are citizens and those who are not. We are now moving in a direction where the differences are becoming greater, says Stauffer.
The proposal will be sent out for review, but the organization has its opinion clear on what should happen.
One should scrap this entirely. This will not benefit our society. It is bad from a human rights perspective, says the chief lawyer.
We notice that when we have expressed our opinions from civil society, the government has not taken much of the comments into account.
Corrected: In an earlier version of the text, an incorrect word was used in the first paragraph of the introduction.
