Why is Sweden eyeing foreign prisons for its inmates?

The Swedish government is contemplating a huge step of sending some of their criminals serving sentences to prisons abroad. The proposal was put forward by a government-appointed commission on Wednesday (January 29).

The country is considering renting space in prisons in other nations. Speaking about the same, Swedish Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer said, “There is a need to work with new solutions within the Prison and Probation Service.”

But why is Sweden considering this move?

Why does Sweden want to rent space in prisons of other nations?

In recent years, Sweden has been struggling with its rising shootings among rival criminal gangs. In the last 20 years, gang crime has been plaguing the nation to such an extent that the Nordic nation has topped the rankings of deadly gun violence per capita in Europe.

Now, armed with new legal tools and increased personnel and funding, Swedish police have made headway against the gangs - there have been fewer deadly shootings and more convictions over the last two years.

Since more gang members are getting arrested by the day , it is straining the prison system. In 2023, the most recent year with available records, Swedish courts issued nearly 200,000 months of prison sentences - a 25 per cent rise from the previous year and double the total in 2014.

According to Reuters, Sweden’s jails and prisons are full and the Prison and Probation Service says it will need about 27,000 beds by 2033, up from 11,000 today.

Additionally, authorities have been grappling with an unprecedented spate of bombings, primarily in the Stockholm capital region. In January alone, there have been 30 bombings, most of them acts of extortion by gangs against companies and citizens, police said, according to a Reuters report.

Speaking on the same, Mattias Wahlstedt, who headed the commission on this matter, said: “Our recommendation is that this should be done within the EU or within the Schengen area.”

He further added that there are no legal barriers to Sweden renting prison space abroad. However, any proposal would need to be approved by parliament first.

However, not everyone is on board with this proposal.

The Seko trade union, which among others represents prison employees, said on Tuesday that it opposed the government’s plan.

“Public services should not be outsourced to other countries. This is a matter of legal requirements, but it is also about preventing state activities from being sold off and runs under private management,” Christer Hallkvist, responsible for labour negotiations for prison staff at Seko, said in a statement.

“Better conditions for staff and more prison places in Sweden are what will solve the problems in the Swedish Prison and Probation Service,” he added.

Do other countries send prisoners abroad?

Countries such as Norway, Belgium, and Denmark have already implemented this system.

For instance, Norway has had prisoners serve time in the Netherlands since 2015 at PI Norgerhaven, helping reduce its prison waiting list.

Also, Belgium and the Netherlands had an arrangement whereby Belgian prisoners served terms in Tilburg, near the Belgian border. This practice was, however, discontinued in 2016.

And in 2021, Denmark controversially agreed to a €15 million annual agreement with Kosovo to house 300 prisoners, primarily those slated for deportation post-sentence. This deal raised ethical concerns due to the significant cultural and legal differences. Despite objections, the deal is set to proceed, with the first transfer of prisoners from Denmark to Kosovo anticipated to occur between early 2026 and mid-2026.

With inputs from agencies