The Local Sweden

Trafficking fears sour berry picking season

Tue, 20 Aug 2013 16:28:00 +0200

Observers in Sweden have warned that Bulgarians and Ukrainians who are trying to eke out a living by picking berries in the Swedish forests may have fallen afoul of human trafficking.

Huge berry picker brawl sends six to hospital

Wed, 07 Aug 2013 16:42:00 +0200

Two rival gangs of migrant berry pickers came to blows on a scrappy car park near Gävle in eastern Sweden on Wednesday, with Swedish police arresting three of the men after the violent dust-up.

Buyers to monitor well-being of berry pickers

Wed, 26 Jun 2013 14:10:00 +0200

Swedish grocery stores have signed up to a monitoring system that should make sure foreign berry pickers working in Sweden are treated fairly, after years of reports of low wages and bad working conditions.

'Swedish work-visa window too narrow'

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 09:03:00 +0200

Since 2008, migrants to Sweden can swap course from seeking asylum to seeking a work visa with the help of a Swedish employer. The Local speaks to one migrant who praises the system, while saying it could be improved.

Sweden fails to explain work visa rules: report

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 09:01:00 +0200

The Swedish Migration Board (Migrationsverket) wants to improve how it communicates the labour migration possibilities to Sweden for would-be migrants, hoping in part to make sure future employees in Sweden know their options and rights.

'Labour migration helps Swedish firms compete'

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 15:58:00 +0200

Swedish companies need to keep the power to hire foreign workers, argues Karin Ekenger of the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise (Svenskt Näringsliv), who fears a return to letting government agencies and unions determine who can work in Sweden will hurt firms' ability to compete globally.

Most work permits given to low-skilled workers

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 10:44:00 +0100

A 2008 change to Sweden's labour migration laws designed to make it easier for companies to recruit non-Europeans to hard-to-fill high-skilled jobs has instead been used primarily to bring low-skilled workers to Sweden, a new report shows.

Sweden needs 'tougher controls' on labour migration: OECD

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 17:33:00 +0100

Sweden needs to implement tighter controls of new rules governing foreign labour migration, according to the OECD, which nevertheless concluded that the 2008 reforms have worked fairly well.

Shock deportation leaves Swedish town reeling

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:06:00 +0100

A village in northern Sweden is in shock after all five members of a local family that had lived in the community for ten years were apprehended by police on Tuesday morning and deported to Armenia.

Swedish work permit rules 'misused': minister

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 13:39:00 +0200

The Swedish law on labour migration is being used as a means to access other EU labour markets with hundreds of migrants recently travelling onwards within the Schengen area without even passing customs at Stockholm Arlanda Airport.

'Unstable' firms bringing workers to Sweden

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 18:16:00 +0200

Many of the companies approved to bring foreign workers to Sweden every year have little or no turnover or go bankrupt shortly after the labour migrants arrive, according to a new report.

Guest workers forced into 'slave-like' employ

Wed, 22 Dec 2010 08:12:00 +0100

Foreign guest workers are being tricked into coming to Sweden and forced to work under slave-like conditions, according to a new report which identifies the trade as a lucrative part of international organised crime.