Fredrik Malmberg talar inför FN när Sverige granskas

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Dialogue with the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the Swedish Government

Remarks by the Swedish Institute for Human Rights, 20th November 2025

Honoured members of the Committee,

My name is Fredrik Malmberg. I am the Director of the Swedish Institute for Human Rights. Let me take this opportunity to express our gratitude to all representatives of racialised communities, national minorities, the Sami indigenous people, children and adults, that contributed to our report. Our consultations and our findings convey a very strong message: racism has become a part of everyday life in Sweden and the situation is worse than during the previous review. This is a wake-up call, much more needs to be done.

I will get back to this, but first a few words about positive developments. In 2023, Sweden’s first Truth and Reconciliation Commission, foccusing on assimilation policies against the national minority Tornedalians, Kvens, and Lantalaiset, submitted its final report. The government has also established a truth commission for the Sami people, Sweden’s indigenous people. It is of crucial importance that the findings of these truth commissions are respected and acted upon.

The government has also introduced a national Action Plan against Racism and Hate Crime. Its very existence recognises that more work is needed, and we welcome this effort.

Esteemed members of the Committee,

Let me be very frank with you, during the four years of our operation as a National Human Rights Institution, we have seen clear signs of a fading willingness to protect human rights when other priorities and interests are at stake. One of the participants in our dialogues stated:

“Racism has become more normalized ... Growing polarization, political rhetoric, and a weakened focus on human rights have contributed to racism being increasingly overlooked as a structural issue.”

In our supplementary report to the Committee we highlight three areas where Sweden needs to improve.

First, Sweden needs to address the serious lack of effective legal redress for victims of racism and hate crime.

More than half of all reported hate crimes are motivated by racism or xenophobia. We are alarmed that the most recent reports show that only around 6 percent of reported hate crime cases were resolved.

A recurring theme in our dialogues is the difficulty of obtaining redress following the reporting of hate crimes. This applies even in cases where clear evidence has been presented to the police. The system for reporting hate crimes feels neither accessible nor trustworthy. As one person noted, “A lot of older people have had tough experiences with the police. It takes special efforts for the police to build trust, like outreach programs.”

Second, Sweden needs to ensure that political rhetoric does not exacerbate the problem of polarisation and racism.

In our dialogues many describe that there has been a negative shift in the political discourse.

Instead of challenging racism, some political initiatives could reinforce it. Recent legal amendments, particularly related to policing, surveillance, and immigration both separately and combined risk disproportionately affecting minorities. For instance, the extension of police powers in so-called “security zones”, raises serious concerns in relation to ethnic and racial profiling.

Third, Sweden needs to do much more to stop racism towards children and young people.

There are repeated reports of children being subjected to racial slurs, bullying, and exclusion in schools. Including racially motivated harassment from peers and, at times, from school staff. I listened when children presented their own unique report. It shook me to the core to hear children describing that from a very young age racism invades their lives – or as one child said: it’s not a distant nightmare, it’s our daily reality.

To conclude, Structural racism must be confronted, voices from people facing racism in their everyday life must be heard and accountability must be enforceable in law and practice.

We look forward to continuing our cooperation with the Committee and intend to play an active role in monitoring the implementation of its conclusions and recommendations.

It is now time for Sweden to turn its commitments under the Convention into concrete, inclusive, and accountable actions.

Thank you!