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IMMIGRATION

Sweden plans to introduce tests for permanent residency from 2027

Adults seeking permanent residency in Sweden from 2027 will need to pass tests on Swedish language and society first, a new government inquiry has proposed.

Sweden plans to introduce tests for permanent residency from 2027
Migration minister Maria Malmer Stenergard. File photo. Photo: Lars Schröder/TT

“For someone living and working in this country, it is essential to have knowledge of the Swedish language and understand the basic conditions of Swedish society,” Migration Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said.

“It is important that a person understands what responsibilities, but also rights, they have in society,” she added.

EXPLAINED:

The law is not yet officially in place: This is a proposal from the inquiry set up to investigate the introduction of tests on language and societal knowledge for permanent residency, which has now been submitted to the Swedish government, although it suggests putting it in place from July 1st, 2027.

Stenergard described it as “frustrating” that the proposed date of implementation is four years away, although she added that she understands that time is needed for the language and culture tests to be formulated. 

The inquiry report is based on a proposal made by the parliamentary migration committee a few years ago under the previous Social Democrat government and is similar to other language or cultural knowledge requirements in other European countries.

UPDATED:

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CRIME

Swedish police chief: ‘Kids are contacting gangs to become killers’

More and more children are contacting criminal gangs in Sweden to offer their services as contract killers, the country's police chief said on Friday, after three people were murdered in 24 hours.

Swedish police chief: 'Kids are contacting gangs to become killers'

Sweden has in recent years been in the grip of a bloody conflict between gangs fighting over arms and drug trafficking. That has escalated with internal fighting within a leading gang.

Apartment buildings and homes across the country are frequently rocked by explosions. Shootings, once limited to disadvantaged areas, have become regular occurrences in public places in the usually tranquil, wealthy country.

“We have a situation where children are contacting criminal gangs to become killers,” police chief Anders Thornberg told journalists.

“The criminals are ruthless,” Thornberg said, adding that the gangs also contacted people, often minors, and “furnished them with weapons and gave them the address in which to stage the attack”. 

Even the victims were often young.

This month, 12 people were killed in shootings and explosions, the deadliest month in the past four years in Sweden.

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Senior police official Mats Lindström said he had seen many messages from young people contacting gangs for contract killings.

In August 2023, there were 69 people aged under 18 in custody in Sweden, against 14 in the same month two years earlier.

On Thursday evening, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson vowed to defeat criminal gangs with the help of the military.

“We are going to hunt down the gangs. We are going to defeat the gangs,” Kristersson said in a televised address to the nation.

“An increasing number of children and completely innocent people are affected by this extreme violence,” Kristersson said.

“Sweden has never seen anything like this. No other country in Europe is seeing anything like this.”

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