The Swedish Migration Board, the authority charged with deciding who may live in Sweden and under what conditions, has been described by internal sources as an organization largely staffed by personnel with a migration background who often speak their own languages and seek to prioritize those from their own country of origin to establish a greater cultural foothold in Sweden.
Swedish news outlet Samnytt spoke to long-serving employees of the organization who blew the whistle on its structural weaknesses and its inability to adhere to the agency’s requirement for neutrality on migration policy.
“Currently, the majority of the staff have a background other than Swedish. Many do not even have Swedish citizenship. And they speak their own language with their own group,” said one source who has worked within the authority for several decades and is still employed there.
They explained that the authority employs around 6,000 people and largely operates in open-plan offices, where employees are free to choose where they sit. In practice, this has led to, ironically, a distinct lack of integration.
“Kurds normally sit together with other Kurds, even if there are different clans among the Kurds, Somalis sit with other Somalis, and Syrians with other Syrians, and so on,” the source said.
“What affects us the most is that everyone speaks their own language, meaning you don’t understand what is said between groups and employees,” they added.
Earlier attempts to require Swedish as the working language within the authority have reportedly been abandoned. Instead, according to Samnytt’s source, parallel linguistic environments have become normalized within the very institution responsible for assessing integration, residency, and citizenship.
“This not only affects language, that people don’t understand each other or what is being said, but it also causes different groups to form within the authority, clans that are involved in bringing their own clan members or relatives from their home countries here. They have brought the Middle Eastern clan mentality into the authority,” the source said.
The Migration Board’s transformation is described as having accelerated during the 2015 migration crisis, when Sweden received more asylum seekers than its system was designed to handle. During that period, the authority’s role shifted from neutral administrator of the law to an increasingly politicized actor.
The source estimates that around 35 percent of employees at the Migration Board are Muslim and described a noticeable change following the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
“Many may have been more moderate Muslims, but after Oct. 7 you could see that more and more Muslim women started wearing the hijab,” the source said. “Songs about ‘from the river to the sea’ could also be heard from the coffee room inside the Migration Board,” the source said.
Employees who object to this culture or raise concerns internally are reportedly ostracized and accused of disloyalty. “What has become unpleasant is that we who feel that things are not going right at the authority, and it is usually Swedes, have to talk behind closed doors so that no one hears,” Samnytt was told.
“You are removed from your position, perhaps placed in the reception,” the source said when asked what happens if an employee speaks openly about their concerns. “It is difficult to fire someone here, since the union is quite strong, but you are simply removed from influence, and all opportunities for a career within the authority disappear.”
When asked what message should be sent to responsible politicians, the source was unequivocal. “Shut down the entire agency. It can’t be changed,” they said.
“If you change the name or transfer responsibility to other agencies, the same people will follow. It will be the same thing again. If you want to change this, you have to take a completely new approach, with new people.”
The allegations come amid previous controversies surrounding the Migration Board. In February 2024, a 30-year-old Iraqi man employed as an administrator at the authority was reported to police on suspicion of data breaches, misconduct, and accepting bribes. According to documents seen by Samnytt, the man may have earned millions of kronor by selling residence permits to other migrants.
The agency has also faced criticism for social media posts explaining how asylum seekers could go back on holiday to countries they claimed to have fled.
The full exposé can be read in full here.
