The Swedish government and the Sweden Democrats party are working on revising current regulations with the goal of making it easier to deport foreigners who commit crimes in Sweden. The number of deportations could increase sixfold.

The report will be submitted to the government and Migration Minister Johan Forssell next week. With the proposed legislative changes, the number of deportations is expected to rise significantly. Currently, about 500 foreigners convicted of crimes are deported each year. That figure is projected to rise—astonishingly—to around 3,000. Forssell is now promising “real change.” The Swedish Samnytt news portal points out that it is already possible to deport individuals without Swedish citizenship if they are sentenced to at least six months in prison and if the prosecutor requests deportation — although this does not always occur in practice.

Other factors that can complicate deportations—such as “ties to Sweden”—may also become less significant in the future. The objective is to deport “as many criminals as possible.”

“The majority of people who come to Sweden from other countries behave well and do not commit crimes. But unfortunately, there is a group that does,” Mr. Forssell told the media.

According to the minister, the legal changes will send a message that Sweden is a fantastic country where you can build a future if you behave, work, and make an effort—but if you come with the intent to commit crimes, then Sweden is not the country for you.

It’s uncertain whether the new system will work

Looking at examples from other countries, however, raises the question of how effective the deportation system will be in Sweden.

Schluss mit den Schwarz-Roten Einwanderungsträumen⚫️🔴❌

Deutschland muss für kriminelle Ausländer möglichst ungemütlich werden

📌https://t.co/J5RLlG08lO pic.twitter.com/Go8EvIdNDO

— Sebastian Münzenmaier, MdB (@S_Muenzenmaier) April 25, 2025

As V4NA, recently highlighted, nearly 150,000 people are currently wanted under arrest warrants in Germany, the majority of them holding foreign passports. Only 12 percent of thosse sought are German citizens.

According to a report published last year, more than 60 percent of deportations in Germany were not carried out.

Between January and September of last year, German police failed to carry out nearly 62 percent of planned deportations. Based on figures from the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung (NOZ), 23,610 out of 38,328 planned deportations during the first nine months of 2024 were not executed—a failure rate of 61.6 percent.

According to NOZ, 65.6 percent of planned deportations in 2023 — totaling 31,330 cases — were not completed. The failure rate was 64.3 percent in 2022 and 60.6 percent in 2021.