A/HRC/55/47/Add.2 criticism for making “political” statements when they engaged in social debates. The resistance to consideration of the rights of diverse communities needs careful reconsideration. 61. Sweden has generally been perceived as tolerant and open towards refugees, migrants and asylum-seekers. The current coalition Government, however, relies on the support of the Sweden Democrats, who continue to stoke fear over immigration, linking immigration to increasing violence (see para. 11). In his statement of 18 October 2022 on government policy, the Prime Minister suggested that that the country’s largest economic and social problems were due to high and unsustainable levels of immigration, failed integration and hundreds of thousands of people living in social exclusion and benefit dependence, and that a paradigm shift was taking place in Swedish migration policy.25 62. The Tidö Agreement is the basis for the cooperation between the government coalition and the Sweden Democrats, and establishes a confidence and supply arrangement between the parties.26 One of the six collaborative projects under the Agreement relates to migration and integration, and proposes a drastic reduction in the quota of refugees coming into Sweden, from 5,000 each year to 900, consideration of an end to the permanent residence permit system, and the voluntary repatriation of people who are considered “not integrated”. 63. Civil society organizations expressed serious concern that several elements of the Tidö Agreement risked seriously harming the principles of the rule of law and other fundamental human rights, adding that the Agreement demonstrated an intent to create divisions between people and to stigmatize persons of non-European ethnicity. They also expressed concern that the reduction in migration flows under the Tidö Agreement may compromise the absolute protection from non-refoulement, with the refusal of religious conversion cases being a particular concern. The Special Rapporteur was informed that refugees who had faced religious persecution in a number of countries of origin felt particularly vulnerable to the risk of refoulement under the new proposals. The Special Rapporteur notes that in December 2023 the Government commissioned the Swedish Agency for Public Management to review the asylum process and cases concerning religious conversion, and she looks forward to the outcome of the review. 64. The issue of sur place conversions to Christianity of migrants and the subsequent treatment of their claims has attracted significant attention. A study analysing the asylum claims between 2015 and 2018 of 619 Afghan converts to Christianity outlined serious shortcomings in the processes of the Swedish Migration Agency process. A total of 68 per cent of the converts were denied asylum on the grounds that their conversions were not deemed to be genuine, despite all of them being baptized members of one of 76 churches from 64 different locations across Sweden. The report noted that the Swedish Migration Agency attributed more weight to knowledge-based answers to questions and intellectual ability rather than to evidence of belief, religious practice and involvement in church life. 27 Representatives of the Swedish Migration Agency indicated that they were aware of the problem and the criticism it had attracted, and that a training course on conversion and apostasy cases for their staff had been jointly developed with the Christian Council of Sweden. The Special Rapporteur also received reports about threats and beatings of religious converts in the migration centres by other residents, which she brought to the attention of the authorities. 65. Some interlocutors informed the Special Rapporteur that the national debate on the Tidö Agreement and the above-mentioned democracy criteria has led to a “name and shame culture” that resulted in self-censorship and a fear of being deported. The situation has undermined trust and discouraged the reporting of religious discrimination cases. The issues need to be addressed in a timely and serious manner. 25 26 27 12 See https://www.government.se/speeches/2022/10/statement-of-government-policy/. See https://www.government.se/articles/2022/11/the-governments-political-priorities/. See https://www.intoleranceagainstchristians.eu/index.php?id=12&case=2801/. GE.24-04001