Author
Supervision is an alternative measure that may be used instead of detention.[1] Authorities are obliged to consider supervision before deciding on detention. Supervision entails regular reporting to the police or to the Swedish Migration Agency, depending on which authority is responsible for the decision. It may also entail surrendering passports or other identity documents.[2]
Similarly to detention, supervision in the asylum context is rarely used during ongoing asylum procedures and when it is used it is mainly applied in relation to applicants in Dublin procedures or applicants who are undergoing a new procedure following a subsequent application. In 2024, a total of 217 supervision decisions were taken by the Migration Agency, an increase from 155 decisions in 2023.[3] Even though this should always be done by the decision body, there have been concerns raised as to the lack of extensive and qualitative argumentation as to why, inter alia, supervision is not used instead of detention.[4] Concerns have been raised by several actors in 2020, including by the Parliamentary Ombudsman (JO), including inter alia on insufficient use of supervision as an alternative to detention, placement of detainees in prison or police facilities and a lack of sufficient proportionality assessments.[5]
The Commission of Inquiry that reviewed the legislation on detention was instructed to propose changes making supervision a more adequate alternatives to detention.[6] In the final report of the Inquiry, two new forms of supervision are proposed: an obligation to stay in a certain location and an obligation not to leave a certain geographical area. It’s also proposed that supervision should be able to be combined with electronical surveillance.
[1] Chapter 10, Section 6 Aliens Act.
[2] Chapter 10, Section 8 Aliens Act.
[3] Information provided by the Migration Agency’s statistics unit in January 2025.
[4] Swedish Red Cross, ‘Förvar under lupp’, June 2019, available in Swedish here. See also comparative study on use of alternatives to detention, where Sweden was one of the studied countries: Odysseus Network, ‘Alternatives to immigration and asylum detention in the EU. Time for implementation’, 2015, available here.
[5] Swedish Refugee Law Center, ‘Hur ser regelverket ut när det gäller förvar i Sverige och finns det problem med hur det tillämpas?, Rapport om Förvar av juriststudenterna Cecilia Alpin och Arvid Skagerlind vid Uppsala Universitet inom ramen för en människorättsklinik’, 22 April 2020.
[6] SOU 2025:16, Ett nytt regelverk för uppsikt och förvar, 17 February 2025, available in Swedish here.