Mogadishu (AX) — Sweden will continue deporting Somali nationals whose asylum claims have been rejected, Migration Minister Johan Forssell said, defending a bilateral return agreement that has come under intensifying political and public scrutiny over funding channels and oversight.
Forssell said the cooperation with Somalia has delivered “clear results” and forms part of a broader effort to enforce asylum decisions. He added that Sweden intends to expand similar arrangements with additional countries, signaling a tougher approach to returns for migrants who no longer have a legal right to remain.
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According to Swedish police data, Somalia had accepted 25 deportees by November, including 14 individuals removed following criminal convictions. The figures reflect a marked rise in forced returns in recent years, increasing from six cases in 2021 to 29 cases in 2023.
The return agreement has drawn renewed attention after Swedish media reported that nearly 100 million kronor in development aid was redirected to programs aligned with Somalia’s federal government. Separately, an additional 5 million kronor from Sweden’s Ministry of Justice funded three positions within a Somali government office involved in processing returns.
Investigative reporting by outlets including Ekot and Dagens Nyheter cited concerns raised by officials within Sida, Sweden’s international development agency, and at Sweden’s embassy in Mogadishu. Those concerns focused on transparency, shifting control over aid resources, and whether the funding arrangements adequately safeguarded against misuse.
Critics questioned whether the positions financed through Swedish funds amounted to “ghost jobs” or exposed public money to corruption risks in a country that consistently ranks among the world’s most corrupt. The controversy has prompted complaints to Sweden’s Parliamentary Committee on the Constitution, with some opposition parties calling for closer scrutiny of ministerial responsibility.
Forssell rejected allegations of misappropriation, saying the support is channeled through the International Organization for Migration to strengthen Somalia’s administrative capacity. “We have no evidence of wrongdoing,” he said. “If something emerges, we will act.”
He argued that effective return mechanisms are essential to maintaining public confidence in Sweden’s asylum system, emphasizing that decisions must be enforced once legal avenues are exhausted. Forssell said the government plans to link a larger share of development assistance to countries’ willingness to accept nationals who lose their right to remain in Sweden.
“We want more countries to take responsibility for their returning citizens,” he said, noting that Sweden already has comparable agreements in place with other states.
The debate underscores a broader tension in European migration policy, where governments are increasingly tying aid, diplomacy, and enforcement together to manage asylum systems, even as humanitarian groups and opposition lawmakers warn that such strategies risk undermining development goals and accountability.
By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
Saturday December 13, 2025
