Sweden passes 'good behaviour' law —Why are immigrants criticising it?

Sweden has recently passed a "good beahviour" law for bad behaving or misconducting immigrants.

The Swedish parliament on Monday passed a law allowing authorities to revoke immigrants' residency permits based on bad behaviour, such as having unpaid debts, doing undeclared work or ‌links to extremist organizations.

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On the contrary the law has been criticized by the opposition and human rights advocacy groups as arbitrary because decisions would be taken on behaviour that has not been deemed criminal.

Immigrants and rights groups are criticising Sweden's "good behaviour" or "honest living" law primarily because it allows authorities to revoke residency permits based on vague, subjective, and non-criminal actions. 

"The good behaviour law leaves people in uncertainty about what actions or expressions can be used against them," Stockholm-based group Civil Rights Defenders said in a statement.

"It undermines the rule of law and the principle of equality before the ‌law," the group added.

The government, which won the 2022 election on a promise to reduce immigration and crack down on crime, has said that people who misbehave or commit crimes are not welcome.

Additionally, the law, which covers pending permits but also retroactively already granted permits, is part of a wider tightening of immigration rules by the right-wing government and its support party, the nationalist Sweden Democrats, ahead of a parliamentary election in September.