An government-commissioned investigation has proposed that people convicted of crimes in Sweden should in future be able to serve their sentences in foreign prisons, as there are no ‘absolute obstacles’ under Swedish law.
The investigation, which began in December 2023, was tasked to explore the feasibility of leasing prison spaces abroad, as some other European countries such as Belgium and Denmark already do.
Swedish Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer announced the findings at a press conference on Wednesday, emphasizing that the next step involves negotiating agreements with other nations to rent cell spaces.
According to him, such an agreement with another country should be made at government level, after approval by the Swedish Parliament with a qualified majority.
The investigation insists that cells should only be rented within the EU and European Economic Area, and that Swedish legislation should apply – notably meaning that Swedish staff should, as far as possible, be responsible for decision-making and contacts with inmates.
Swedish citizens could be among those sent to foreign prisons.
“Foreign nationals with deportation orders might be particularly suitable, but there’s no reason to limit this only to non-Swedish citizens”, special investigator Mattias Wahlstedt said during the press conference.
The findings come amid a noticeable rightward swing in Swedish poltics with the far-right Sweden Democrats – a party known for its tough stance on crime and immigration – influencing the country’s centre-right government policy in exchange for their support in parliament.
The investigation’s launch was driven in part by the Sweden Democrats’ push for cost-effective solutions to prison overcrowding, in line with their agenda to deter crime, especially among non-citizens. A separate proposal last week sought to strip gang members of their citizenship.
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As groundbreaking as it may be presented by the Swedish government, Stockholm’s potential approach is not novel.
Norway, for instance, has had prisoners serve time in the Netherlands since 2015 at PI Norgerhaven, helping alleviate its prison waiting list while providing use for Dutch facilities that had excess capacity due to a decreasing domestic prison population.
Similarly, Belgium and the Netherlands had an arrangement whereby Belgian prisoners served terms in Tilburg, near the Belgian border. This was discontinued in 2016, with prisoners now moving in the opposite direction.
In 2021, Denmark took a more controversial step by entering into a €15 million annual agreement with Kosovo to house 300 prisoners, primarily those slated for deportation post-sentence.
This deal raised ethical concerns due to the significant cultural and legal differences between the two countries, unlike the more culturally aligned arrangements between Norway, the Netherlands, and Belgium.
The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), along with the European Prison Observatory and the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims, have flagged this as potentially discriminatory and a form of outsourcing human rights obligations.
Despite these criticisms, the deal is set to proceed, with the first transfer of prisoners from Denmark to Kosovo anticipated to occur between early 2026 and mid-2026.
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