PART 2 • Despite new governments, stricter regulations, and repeated promises of increased efficiency, the Swedish Migration Agency has proven to be one of the most difficult authorities to reform. Since the migration chaos of 2015, political signals have come and gone, but the agency’s fundamental structures remain. In conversations with Samnytt, a source from within describes how weak incentives, internal culture, and informal loyalties contribute to maintaining the status quo—even when political intent clearly points in another direction and the formal decisions have been made.

After the migrant crisis peaked ten years ago, the Migration Agency has often been described as an authority in constant change. New governments have replaced one another, regulations have been tightened, and political signals have shifted direction. Yet, the same criticisms persist year after year—long processing times, lack of internal control, and an organization that seems stubbornly resistant to reform in practice.

DON’T MISS PART 1 of SAMNYTT’S SERIES: Inside the Migration Agency: Clans, Swedes in the Minority, and a Culture of Silence

Despite recurring promises of greater efficiency, the Migration Agency stands out as one of the authorities where change happens the slowest. Part of the explanation may lie in the agency’s size and mission. The Migration Agency handles complex cases involving the meeting of law, international obligations, and individual assessments, something Samnytt has previously reported. But it may also stem from a lack of transparency.

Unlike the private sector, there are few direct incentives to shrink the organization, simplify processes, or reduce costs. Efficiency rarely leads to reduced funding—rather, resources are shifted to new assignments, more projects, or increased internal administration.

One of Samnytt’s inside sources describes how this shows itself in daily work. When assignments decrease, as they have in recent times, the organization does not shrink. Instead, bureaucratization increases.

As soon as external pressure fades, the source explains, staff are sent on more trainings, new projects are launched, and cases are overworked in ways that don’t necessarily add real quality. According to the source, it’s a way of keeping the organization busy and the workforce intact.

– There are no incentives to cut or streamline the organization. On the contrary. If the organization shrinks, it’s harder to make a career. There are fewer positions, fewer managerial roles. Then people just stay on, waiting for retirement or for someone else to leave.

The source suggests this is a structural problem affecting all organizations without competition but is especially clear at the Migration Agency, where expansion has long been the norm.

People might rather commit a crime in Sweden and get a few months in prison than be sent back to their home country.

Samnytt’s source at the Migration Agency

– Any operation that isn’t in competition becomes inefficient. It’s almost a law of nature. But inefficiency is always hidden behind fine words like efficiency, planning, and development.

How do you feel that processing goals and other internal metrics impact the quality of decisions? Does it lead to quick but less considered outcomes?

– Yes, that’s probably the biggest problem at the Migration Agency. If you have a choice between granting and denying an application, you much more often approve, because it’s much faster—it doesn’t get appealed or scrutinized the same way. If you deny, you have to expect an appeal, and then it has to stand up in court. It takes much, much longer to write that kind of decision.

How often is a denial appealed?

– Pretty much always. I don’t know the exact figure, but it almost always happens. I think I’ve only heard of one case where a denial was not appealed.

If a case is ultimately denied, how often can it actually be enforced in practice?

– Well, you have roughly 40% who come from countries where enforcement of denials is not possible if applicants don’t cooperate. It’s about Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Somalia, and Eritrea. It’s extremely, extremely difficult to enforce a denial there. Some countries also won’t take back their citizens if they’ve committed a crime in Sweden. Our source continues:

– So people might rather commit a crime in Sweden and get a few months in prison than be sent back to their home country.

How come Denmark can deport people to Afghanistan, but not Sweden?

– I’m not sure, but perhaps they have signed some form of return agreement, which we haven’t. But then you have to pay for such an agreement for those countries to take back their citizens. These countries are generally corrupt, and it comes down to money in these matters. You could say these people have become a tradable commodity.

READ ALSO: Government Tightens Return Requirements – New Task for the Migration Agency

We have information that Swedish politicians of Somali descent have urged the Somali government not to grant landing permits to Swedish planes coming to Somalia with deported Somalis, what is your comment on this?

– Yes, that doesn’t surprise me. These groups often speak with forked tongues; when applying for grants, they say one thing to Swedish authorities and a completely different thing to their own clan. To Swedish society, they talk about equality, integration and similar topics. But in the Islamist context, to their own clan, they say something else entirely. Our source elaborates:

– For example, they might call Quran studies “gender equality studies.” They say what Swedish authorities want to hear, to get funding for the covert activities they’re actually engaged in.

READ ALSO: Gothenburg Mosque Refuses to Attend Migration Agency Conference on Return Migration

Internal Culture, Loyalties, and Career Paths

Against this background, the widely publicized cases of serious misconduct become less surprising. In the summer of 2021, a caseworker at the Migration Agency’s Gothenburg office, without authorization and with insufficient documentation, issued 67 residence and work permits during her last days at work, as Samnytt also reported. The majority concerned migrants from Iraq. The decisions—later deemed illegal—were discovered only afterwards.

READ ALSO: Caseworker Handed Out 67 Illegal Residence Permits—Then Fast-Tracked to Police Training

The fact that the woman was later, despite an ongoing investigation for serious misconduct, admitted to the specialized police training and managed to work as a police officer before the legal process caught up added to the image of a system where lack of control is evident not only within a single authority—but between authorities.

Those who are right-leaning, if I can use that term, watch what they say. They don’t speak openly, they make sure the door is closed. The narrative at the agency is that the Tidö government is the enemy. People are waiting for the “right” government to return.

Samnytt’s source at the Migration Agency

This was not an isolated case. In recent years, several cases have come to light in which Migration Agency staff have been suspected of selling or improperly granting residence permits. What these cases have in common is how long such activities could continue before being detected—and how hard it was to restore order afterwards.

But according to Samnytt’s source, the organizational problem is deeper than just individual transgressions. It’s also about internal culture, loyalties, and career paths.

Avoiding the Appearance of Being “Racist”

When it comes to management positions, the picture, according to the source, is more nuanced than sometimes presented publicly. At higher levels, people with Swedish backgrounds still dominate. At lower levels, the proportion with foreign backgrounds is much higher.

– There are managers with foreign backgrounds who are very good. And there are Swedish managers who are terrible. That’s just how it is.

At the same time, the source notes, there are examples that raise questions. Managers with poor Swedish skills who nevertheless have been given leading roles, something the source doubts would be accepted if the situation were reversed. There are also cases of managers hiring a disproportionately high number of people of the same nationality or clan as themselves.

– It’s very hard to explain with the idea that all the other applicants would be incompetent.

READ ALSO: Skansen’s Diversity Santa Claus Detained for Serious Weapons and Severe Drug Offenses

The source gives concrete examples, for instance from what is known as the detention center, where entire work groups have been dominated by people from the same country or region. In some cases, it’s a matter of national belonging, in others, clan structures or informal networks.

In terms of recruitment in general, the source believes that people with foreign backgrounds find it easier to get work at the Migration Agency than Swedes, even when formal qualifications are equal.

– I know many competent Swedes who’ve applied for jobs here without even being called for an interview, despite meeting all the requirements.

According to the source, this connects to a kind of compensation logic.

– We’re an authority that many perceive as mean. We deport people to poor countries. To avoid appearing racist, it becomes important to show diversity. It’s a way of compensating.

“The Tidö Government is the Enemy”

This internal culture also shapes the view of politics. According to the source, reactions to the Tidö Agreement in autumn 2022 were telling. Grief, anger, and frustration were openly expressed on the intranet. Those who supported the new direction kept quiet.

After the Tidö government took office, how was and is the atmosphere at the Migration Agency?

– Those who are right-leaning, if I can use that term, watch what they say. They don’t speak openly, they make sure the door is closed. The narrative at the agency is that the Tidö government is the enemy. People are waiting for the “right” government to return.

Formally, the agency follows its regulatory letter and government directives. Denials and returns have also increased. But according to Samnytt’s source, this happens reluctantly, within the scope of considerable interpretation.

– A government can never control exactly how decisions are made. There is always a margin. And we keep as far to the left in that margin as possible.

READ ALSO: “Just Want to Cry” – Tidö Agreement Reactions at the Migration Agency

Similar patterns have been seen before in other parts of the Swedish civil service. When the Sweden Democrats entered Parliament and later became a real power player, officials at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs reacted with a petition marking their opposition to the political developments. The reactions sparked a debate about the boundary between the civil service role and political decision-making.

The discussion included criticism that parts of the administration risked being seen as unwilling to implement political decisions based on democratic election results, while others emphasized the importance of professional judgment and values in public service. The issue raised broader questions about loyalty, impartiality, and how authorities adapt to changing political directions.

DON’T MISS PART 1 OF SAMNYTT’S SERIES: Inside the Migration Agency: Clans, Swedes in the Minority, and a Culture of Silence