Swedish government to launch inquiry into revoking citizenship
Sweden's government will soon launch an inquiry into changing the Swedish constitution so that people can be stripped of their citizenship if they, for instance, are shown to be "a threat to Sweden's security" or have obtained citizenship on false grounds.
Sweden's migration minister Maria Malmer Stenergard announced the plan at a press conference held on Friday with Linda Lindberg, the group parliamentary leader for the far-right Sweden Democrats, to update the press on the parties' progress on tightening citizenship requirements.
"The issue of making it possible to actually revoke Swedish citizenship requires changes to the constitution," Lindberg said in the press conference. "That's something we need to look at."
READ ALSO: What's the current status of Sweden's planned migration reforms?
She said that Sweden's Justice Minister would soon publish a directive setting up the constitutional inquiry and appointing someone to lead it.
Malmer Stenergard said that the government also hoped to bring in a new rule preventing those between the age of 15 and 18 who have committed a serious crime from becoming Swedish citizens, which she said filled in a gap in the current law she found "deeply concerning, problematic and downright offensive".
"This is what meant that the person convicted of the murder at the Delta Gym was able to become a Swedish citizen while he was a suspect," she said.
The Delta Gym case refers to a shooting at a gym in Stockholm in 2022 which resulted in the death of 54 year old Fredrik Andersson, an innocent bystander who was trying to stop the attack. A 17-year-old was convicted of the murder in March 2023.
The real target of the attack was a gang member who was at the gym at the same time.
Malmer Stenergard said that the government also wanted to make it easier to reject applications to renounce Swedish citizenship, which she said would, for example, prevent parents from discarding their Swedish citizenship so they could take their children out of Sweden.
The two said the government also planned to launch another inquiry in the summer which would look at further ways of tightening citizenship requirements.
The measures the second inquiry will consider include increasing the income or other financial requirements for those seeking citizenship, and also tightening the demands for "honourable moral conduct".
The second inquiry will also be asked to suggest what from of ceremonial oath of loyalty should be the final stage in the citizenship process.
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Sweden's migration minister Maria Malmer Stenergard announced the plan at a press conference held on Friday with Linda Lindberg, the group parliamentary leader for the far-right Sweden Democrats, to update the press on the parties' progress on tightening citizenship requirements.
"The issue of making it possible to actually revoke Swedish citizenship requires changes to the constitution," Lindberg said in the press conference. "That's something we need to look at."
READ ALSO: What's the current status of Sweden's planned migration reforms?
She said that Sweden's Justice Minister would soon publish a directive setting up the constitutional inquiry and appointing someone to lead it.
Malmer Stenergard said that the government also hoped to bring in a new rule preventing those between the age of 15 and 18 who have committed a serious crime from becoming Swedish citizens, which she said filled in a gap in the current law she found "deeply concerning, problematic and downright offensive".
"This is what meant that the person convicted of the murder at the Delta Gym was able to become a Swedish citizen while he was a suspect," she said.
The Delta Gym case refers to a shooting at a gym in Stockholm in 2022 which resulted in the death of 54 year old Fredrik Andersson, an innocent bystander who was trying to stop the attack. A 17-year-old was convicted of the murder in March 2023.
The real target of the attack was a gang member who was at the gym at the same time.
Malmer Stenergard said that the government also wanted to make it easier to reject applications to renounce Swedish citizenship, which she said would, for example, prevent parents from discarding their Swedish citizenship so they could take their children out of Sweden.
The two said the government also planned to launch another inquiry in the summer which would look at further ways of tightening citizenship requirements.
The measures the second inquiry will consider include increasing the income or other financial requirements for those seeking citizenship, and also tightening the demands for "honourable moral conduct".
The second inquiry will also be asked to suggest what from of ceremonial oath of loyalty should be the final stage in the citizenship process.
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