Sweden’s government moved ahead Tuesday with plans to toughen requirements for migrants, with a report proposing a bill that would require them to adhere to “honest living” or face deportation.

“The vast majority of people who come to Sweden are perfectly honest, they simply want a better life, for themselves, for their families. They want to work, do the right thing, learn the Swedish language, become part of our country,” Migration Minister Johan Forssell told a press conference.

“But we also live in an era where citizens’ trust in immigration policy rests on a very fundamental principle, namely that those who come to Sweden and commit crimes, or who behave badly in another way, these people should not be here,” he added.

Following a large influx of asylum seekers in Sweden during the 2015 migrant crisis, successive left- and right-wing governments have tightened asylum rules.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s centre-right minority government has introduced ever harsher curbs since coming to power in 2022, propped up by the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats.
It has tasked former judge Robert Schott with probing the legality of toughening the rules for migrants.

In a new report, Schott proposed introducing a bill that would introduce “honest living” as a requirement for foreign-born residents.

The measure would mainly target students, those with work permits and their families, and would enable authorities to invoke the principle to deny or revoke residence permits.

In addition to committing a crime, transgressions could include social benefits fraud, racking up debt, public order disruptions induced by drug addiction, or the glorification of terrorism or other statements that “threaten the security” of Sweden, Forssell said.

“Legislation will be stricter for this group of people who are not Swedish citizens,” he added.

Rights group Civil Rights Defenders were critical of the attempt to move forward with such a bill.

“This would create a system where some individuals could be punished for expressing opinions that remain entirely legal for others — where certain groups receive a more limited freedom of expression than others” John Stauffer, the group’s legal director, said in a statement.