Advertisement

Swedish government announces inquiry to tackle deportations of foreign workers

TT/The Local
TT/The Local - [email protected]
Swedish government announces inquiry to tackle deportations of foreign workers
Justice and Migration Minister Morgan Johansson, who announced the plans on Sunday. Photo: TT

The Swedish government on Sunday announced plans to review convoluted labour laws, in order to allow more people to stay and work in Sweden.

Advertisement

Justice and Migration Minister Morgan Johansson said he will appoint a commission to review the rules around labour migration - which have seen several foreigners with jobs in Sweden told to leave the country due to mistakes made by their employers.

The government now plans to give employers a chance to correct such mistakes on their own initiative, and will put forward the proposal in the spring.

Several high-profile cases of skilled foreign workers being deported have grabbed headlines and prompted campaigns to make the law more lenient.

In September, Tayyab Sahabab, a developer working for a Stockholm start-up was given three weeks to leave Sweden due to an admin error made by a previous employer.

Johansson referred specifically to Sahabab on Sunday.

"It is this type of case we want to be able to avoid in the future, and that is exactly what this review will deal with," he told TV4 Nyheterna.

READ MORE: 'World class' developer told to leave Sweden over admin slip

And last April, Swedes rallied to help a Bangladeshi man who was refused a work permit due to the fact he found his job on LinkedIn. He was later allowed to return after being offered new employment, work and residence permits.

In both cases, the Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket) told The Local they were bound by rules and regulations regarding work permits.

“It's not a good situation, but Migrationsverket has no possibility of doing things a different way. It's to do with legislation in that area which is really clear, it's actually designed to make sure that people who come here get an adequate salary, the right insurance, etc,” a spokesperson from the agency said in September.

But the cases drew attention to apparent contradictions in Sweden’s push to try to attract global talent to the country while at the same time creating obstacles for them with strict rules and regulations.

READ MORE: Foreign workers to form human chain to stop deportations

 

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also