UN Criticized Sweden – Now the Climate Activist Is Allowed to Stay

The German-Hungarian researcher and climate activist David Alcer is allowed to stay in Sweden. The Swedish Migration Agency has thus gone against the border police’s assessment after a widely noted process in which a UN rapporteur sharply criticized Swedish authorities’ actions.

Alcer, who works in semiconductor research at Lund University and has lived in Sweden since 2019, has participated in climate actions involving so-called civil disobedience for several years. Among other things, he went up on stage during Loreen’s performance at Melodifestivalen 2023 with a banner from the organization ‘Restore Wetlands’. He has also taken part in road blockades and actions against peat extraction.

It was his activism that later became the focus of the border police. On two occasions in 2025, Alcer was stopped by plainclothes police officers and taken to the station. The second time, he was taken to the police station at the Öresund Bridge and locked in a room, even though reportedly he was not suspected of any crime.

The border police then proceeded to recommend that Alcer be deported. In the police assessment, his activism was described as a threat to the democratic order, because the changes he sought, according to the police, could only be brought about through political decisions.

UN Issued Harsh Criticism

The case simultaneously attracted the attention of Michel Forst, the UN’s special rapporteur on environmental defenders under the Aarhus Convention.

In a ten-page letter to the Swedish government in April, Forst delivered extensive criticism over the handling of Alcer. He wrote that he saw no legal basis for the actions taken and that instead, they could appear to be reprisals against a person participating in peaceful environmental protests.

The UN rapporteur particularly questioned the border police’s description of civil disobedience as a threat to democratic order and public safety. According to Forst, peaceful protests are internationally protected even when they involve civil disobedience.

Forst also referenced the Aarhus Convention, which Sweden ratified in 2005. The Convention, among other things, contains provisions on the protection of people exercising their rights to participate in environmental matters.

The UN rapporteur wanted the government to investigate how Alcer was treated, to examine any potential misconduct, and to report on what training exists for police and border police regarding the rights of environmental defenders.

Migration Agency Says No to Deportation

The Migration Agency has now concluded the part of the process regarding whether Alcer should be deported. The authority determined that there is no evidence showing he has caused significant harm to people or property, or exposed the public to serious danger. There is also nothing to suggest he intends to do so in the future.

The Migration Agency therefore finds that it is not sufficiently demonstrated that deportation is particularly justified in regard to public order and safety. The decision thus means Alcer will not be deported from Sweden.

For him, the decision marks the end of a year of uncertainty. At the same time, he has said that he intends to continue his political and climate-related commitment.

– It has felt completely absurd to live under the threat of deportation during the past year. Completely absurd to be picked up by plainclothes police in the middle of the street and then taken into custody – with the threat of deportation, Alcer tells Aftonbladet.

Southern Border Police, for their part, dismissed the idea that it would be unusual for authorities to have different assessments. Press spokesperson Jimmy Modin told Aftonbladet that it is the Migration Agency’s job to assess the matter and that the authority can therefore reach a different conclusion than the police.

Regarding the UN’s demand that the police’s actions be investigated, the police refer to the option of reporting suspected misconduct.