Former head of the Swedish Migration Agency: SD's fault that I had to go

Published 26 March 2024 at 13.12

Foreign. The left-wing bureaucrat Mikael Ribbenvik was forced to quit as director general of the Swedish Migration Agency last year. Now he blames it all on the Sweden Democrats.

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– It has turned out as SD wants, says Mikael Ribbenvik to Expressen.

The government announced in February last year that Ribbenvik would not have his appointment as director general extended, and he was forced to leave his post at the end of May.

Within the Sweden Democrats, some found it difficult to hide their joy at getting rid of the top bureaucrat . “Time to clean up Myndighetsverige. Away with asylum activists from Verket”, tweeted Björn Söder (SD), for example.

– They don't like me for some reason, says Ribbenvik to Expressen about SD.

Mikael Ribbenvik was personally responsible for a sharp increase in asylum immigration to Sweden. In 2012, for example, he decided, then as head of law at the Migration Agency, that all Syrians who came to Sweden illegally would automatically receive a permanent residence permit. This individual decision led to Sweden becoming one of the main targets for Syrians seeking their fortune in Europe.

SD leader Jimmie Åkesson has long talked about the need to get rid of “activist heads of authorities”. Others who have been poked by the Tidö government are Sida's director general Carin Jämtin and the top managers of the Norwegian School Administration and the Police Agency. The directors-general of the Swedish Customs Service and the Radiation Safety Authority have been replaced before the appointments have expired.