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Sweden’s opposition parties are demanding a parliamentary investigation into Migration Minister Johan Forssell after reports revealed that his government paid over five million kronor (about $517,000) to Somalia’s federal government to help deport Somali nationals. According to Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter, the payment was approved in April and signed by Forssell. It was transferred through the UN migration agency IOM under a classified deal made outside Sweden’s official aid budget. The funds were meant to help Somalia accept 28 citizens who had been denied entry after deportation orders from Sweden.
The newspaper reported that the money was used to fund three positions within Somalia’s Prime Minister’s Office, each reportedly paying over 100,000 kronor per month, and allegedly held by relatives of people close to Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre. When journalists requested documentation about the decision, the government’s initial file was empty, and later released IOM records were heavily censored for confidentiality reasons.
Forssell has denied any wrongdoing, saying the payment was part of “migration policy cooperation,” not foreign aid. He insisted the funds were used to make sure Somalia would take back people who had committed serious crimes in Sweden, including violent and sexual offenses. He said there was “no evidence” of corruption and that the deal was carried out through IOM, not directly with Somali officials.
The case has sparked public outrage in Sweden, especially since Somalia is consistently ranked among the world’s most corrupt countries by Transparency International. Officials from Sweden’s aid agency Sida and the embassy in Nairobi reportedly warned the government against such an arrangement, calling it risky and poorly planned.
This controversy comes after similar revelations in 2023, when Sweden reportedly redirected about 100 million kronor ($10 million) in development funds toward projects linked to Somalia’s Prime Minister’s Office in exchange for accepting deported Somali nationals. That earlier deal led to a dispute with Sida and the World Bank, which froze funding over accountability concerns. The situation escalated in May 2025 when Somalia expelled Sweden’s aid chief before the remaining funds were redirected through the UN Development Programme (UNDP). Deportations later resumed after the diplomatic standoff cooled.
Opposition leaders say the government’s handling of the situation amounts to bribery. The Social Democrats and the Left Party have filed formal complaints to the Constitutional Committee, while the Green Party has called for Forssell to resign. Social Democrat foreign affairs spokesperson Morgan Johansson accused the government of paying “bribe money to an Islamist government,” while Green Party leader Amanda Lind said Forssell had lost all public trust.
Forssell, however, defended his actions, arguing that Sweden must take stronger steps to ensure the return of people with deportation orders. He told Aftonbladet that his ministry maintains “zero tolerance” for corruption and that similar agreements could help speed up deportations in the future. He claimed that since his government took office, deportations had risen by about 60 percent, though he did not provide specific numbers for Somalia.
Somalia’s government has strongly denied any wrongdoing. In an October 9 statement, the Prime Minister’s Office called Swedish media reports “false and misleading,” saying that all cooperation with Sweden is managed transparently through official channels like the World Bank and UN agencies. It also said that no direct deal linking aid to deportations exists.
The scandal has deepened divisions in Stockholm over how far European governments should go to enforce deportations, especially when dealing with fragile and corruption-prone states. Critics say the Swedish government blurred the line between diplomacy and bribery by secretly using taxpayer money to influence another country’s decisions. Supporters argue it was a necessary and pragmatic approach to overcome bureaucratic delays that had long hindered deportations.