The visit followed the Swedish ministers’ trip to Damascus in November last year. At the time, Migration Minister Johan Forssell (M) and Development Minister Benjamin Dousa (M) met with Syria’s new government, led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, whose Islamist HTS militia took power in the country in 2024.
One purpose of the contact is to enable more deportations of criminals to Syria.
“We received clearer acknowledgement from Syria this time that we jointly need to establish this kind of routine, including for criminal deportations carried out by force,” Forssell tells Expressen.
The Government Offices tell TT that the police have carried out 25 deportations of criminals to Syria so far this year, and that there are 153 open cases - that is, deportation cases that have not yet been carried out.
