By Just 2 Votes: Sweden Greenlights 'Snitch Culture' and Retroactive Residency Revocations

STOCKHOLM — Sweden’s parliament voted late Monday to pass a pair of controversial immigration bills, dramatically escalating the country's crackdown on immigrants ahead of September's elections. The legislation introduces a "good behaviour" requirement for residency permits and obliges many public sector workers to report undocumented migrants.

The "good behaviour" law allows authorities to revoke residency permits based on vaguely defined criteria. While the law doesn't specify exact behaviors, the government has cited unpaid debts, tax evasion, criminality, and ties to extremist organizations as examples. It applies to pending and future residents, and can be applied retroactively.

In a separate but equally contentious vote, parliament passed a so-called "snitch law" requiring employees of tax authorities, employment and social insurance agencies, and prison services to report anyone they believe is undocumented. Following widespread criticism, teachers, doctors, and social workers were exempted.

Both measures passed by the slimmest of margins: 174 votes in favor to 172 against. John Stauffer from Civil Rights Defenders noted the razor-thin victory "indicates how much opposition there is in Swedish society".

The legislation has drawn fierce criticism from opposition politicians and human rights groups. Amnesty International warned of "the risk of residence permits being denied or revoked based on behavior that was neither illegal nor punishable for Swedish citizens". Jacob Lind, a migration researcher at Malmö University, called it "a cruel, ineffective policy" that "opens up the Pandora's box of snitching – a trademark of authoritarian states".

The bills are the latest step by the center-right government, which relies on the far-right Sweden Democrats for support, to fulfill its 2022 election promise to reduce immigration and crack down on crime. Migration Minister Johan Forssell defended the measures, stating: "Anyone who doesn’t make the effort to do the right thing shouldn’t be able to count on staying".

The new rules are set to take effect on July 13.