Extended police powers in border areas

The plan forbids discrimination based on appearance or origin and requires that the legal system is organized so it does not reproduce structural racism. It also guards a broad private sphere and warns against racism and police violence against young people in poor areas. To reject identity checks of people assumed to be foreigners without suspicion of crime follows directly from this.

• against ethnic profilingdecisive»Diskriminering av människor på grund av utseende« (party programme ↗)“Discrimination of people based on appearance”
• the legal system must not reproduce racism»reproducerar den strukturella rasismen i deras konkreta verksamhet.« (party programme ↗)“reproduces the structural racism in their concrete activity.”
• personal integrityweak support»Alla människor har rätt till en bred privat sfär« (party programme ↗)“All people have the right to a broad private sphere”
• police violence»Många unga, särskilt med utländsk bakgrund, som bor i fattiga områden, utsätts även för rasism och övervåld från polisen« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Many young people, especially with foreign background, living in poor areas, are also subjected to racism and police violence”

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The plan's decisive commitment is to take vigorous action against the smuggling of weapons and drugs, among other things through strengthened border control, and for the police to receive more tools. The counter-proposal's requirement not to introduce the border-proximate control powers runs counter to this. The party programme's requirement for equality before the law and objectivity is a real objection to discriminatory application, but does not change the plan's direction on the substantive issue.

• strengthened border controldecisive»Vi vill ta krafttag mot införsel av vapen och narkotika, bland annat genom stärkt gränskontroll.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We want to take vigorous action against the smuggling of weapons and drugs, among other things through strengthened border control.”
• more tools for the police»Kraftigt öka antalet poliser på våra gator och torg. Vi vill säkra och stärka polisnärvaron i hela landet. Polisen behöver också fler verktyg, som bättre möjligheter till avlyssning och husrannsakan.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Significantly increase the number of police on our streets and squares. We want to secure and strengthen police presence throughout the country. The police also need more tools, such as better opportunities for wiretapping and house searches.”
• against smuggling»Vi vill se fler och intensifierande internationella samarbeten mot smuggling av bland annat vapen och narkotika.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We want to see more and intensifying international cooperation against smuggling of, among other things, weapons and drugs.”
• equality before the law»beakta allas likhet inför lagen och iaktta saklighet och opartiskhet.« (party programme ↗)“respect everyone's equality before the law and observe objectivity and impartiality.”

The plan opposes all laws that entail disproportionate encroachments on integrity and states that crime prevention must not be carried out at the expense of human rights. Identity checks with body searches of persons assumed to be foreigners, without suspicion of crime, furthermore strike the plan's demand that structural discrimination and ethnic profiling shall cease. The counter-proposal's rejection of the powers therefore follows from the plan.

• against disproportionate integrity encroachmentsdecisive»alla lagar som innebär oproportionerliga ingrepp i« (party programme ↗)“all laws that entail disproportionate encroachments on”
• crime prevention within human rights»viktigt men ska inte ske på bekostnad av mänskliga« (party programme ↗)“important but shall not be carried out at the expense of human”
• stop ethnic profiling»Strukturell diskriminering och rasism ska upphöra.« (party programme ↗)“Structural discrimination and racism shall cease.”
• tightened discrimination protection»stärka lagstiftningen mot diskriminering och se över rätten till rättshjälp i diskrimineringsfall.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“strengthen legislation against discrimination and review the right to legal aid in discrimination cases.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan explicitly says no to stop-and-search zones and other invasive control measures and demands that the rule of law and the individual's rights against the state be defended. All legislation shall be tested against its impact on personal integrity and be proportionate. Body searches of people assumed to be foreigners without suspicion of crime, with obvious risk of ethnic profiling, conflict with these commitments.

• no to stop-and-search zonesdecisive»Rättsstaten och individens rättigheter gentemot staten måste försvaras. Vi säger därför nej till visitationszoner, kollektiv bestraffning, omvänd bevisbörda, anonyma vittnen, preventiv avlyssning och inskränkningar av religionsfriheten.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The rule of law and the individual's rights against the state must be defended. We therefore say no to stop-and-search zones, collective punishment, reverse burden of proof, anonymous witnesses, preventive surveillance and restrictions on freedom of religion.”
• proportionality and integrityweak support»All lagstiftning bör prövas mot dess påverkan på människors personliga integritet. Det måste finnas en proportionalitet mellan lagstiftningens inskränkning av medborgarnas integritet och lagarnas syfte.« (party programme ↗)“All legislation should be tested against its impact on people's personal integrity. There must be proportionality between the legislation's restriction of citizens' integrity and the law's purpose.”
• counter ethnic profiling»Diskriminering, strukturell rasism och intolerans, i alla dess former, ska motverkas.« (party programme ↗)“Discrimination, structural racism and intolerance, in all its forms, shall be countered.”
• openness instead of border control»Centerpartiet strävar efter öppna gränser, fri rörlighet samt en generös och human flykting- och invandringspolitik.« (party programme ↗)“The Centre Party strives for open borders, free movement and a generous and humane refugee and immigration policy.”

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The stance rests on the quoted commitment in the party's own documents; the actual vote deviated. Click the quote to verify it in the document.

The election manifesto wants more people waiting for refusal of entry and expulsion to be held in detention and for border protection to be strengthened, and gives law enforcement authorities more intrusive tools – which argues against rejecting the new control powers. Simultaneously, the plan requires that the state with force combat all discrimination and that integrity infringements are only justified if a contrary interest weighs clearly more heavily, which is the counter-proposal's main objection. Overall the demand is rejected, but with low confidence.

• enforcement of immigration controldecisive»Fler som väntar på både utvisning och avvisning ska hållas i förvar.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“More people waiting for both expulsion and refusal of entry shall be held in detention.”
• effective border protection»För att stärka det yttre gränsskyddet och rättssäkerheten behöver EU på sikt helt ta över ansvaret för kontrollen av unionens yttre gränser.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“To strengthen external border protection and legal certainty, the EU needs in the longer term to completely take over responsibility for control of the union's external borders.”
• against ethnic profiling»Därför ska staten med kraft bekämpa all slags rasism, diskriminering och intolerans.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Therefore the state shall with force combat all kinds of racism, discrimination and intolerance.”
• proportionality in integrity infringements»är endast berättigade om ett motstående intresse väger uppenbart tyngre och åtgärden är effektiv.« (party programme ↗)“are only justified if a contrary interest weighs clearly more heavily and the measure is effective.”

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The plan requires strict migration policy, border security and that all crime be prosecuted effectively, and prioritizes combating smuggling and human trafficking. Denying the police authority to check identity in border-adjacent areas contradicts this. The plan's requirements for clearly delimited authority and protected integrity justify restrictions, not that the authority is absent.

• strict migration policydecisive»Stram migrationspolitik krävs för att ta itu med integrationsproblem och utanförskap.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Strict migration policy is required to address integration problems and exclusion.”
• territorial integrity and border security»Det sker i regel bäst genom att värna territoriell integritet och utöva gränsskydd« (party programme ↗)“This is usually best done by protecting territorial integrity and exercising border security”
• crime must be prosecuted»Alla brott ska effektivt och utan undantag beivras« (party programme ↗)“All crime shall be effectively and without exception prosecuted”
• delimited authority»Det europeiska polissamarbetet ska vara väl utvecklat samtidigt som dess befogenheter ska vara tydligt avgränsade« (party programme ↗)“European police cooperation shall be well developed while its authority shall be clearly delimited”

The plan makes border control a core task — Sweden must be able to hold the border — and explicitly wants to give police and customs stronger powers, including search zones, to stop foreign theft gangs and arms smuggling. The counter-proposal wants to deny police exactly the border control powers in border areas that this line presupposes. The plan therefore speaks against the counter-proposal's demands.

• control of the borderdecisive»Sverige måste kunna hålla gränsen.« (party programme ↗)“Sweden must be able to hold the border.”
• strong border powers»Stärka tullen med mer resurser och kraftfulla befogenheter för att stoppa stöldligor och vapensmugglare« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Strengthen customs with more resources and strong powers to stop theft gangs and arms smugglers”
• search without criminal suspicion»Införa visitationszoner så att Polisen får bättre möjligheter att leta efter vapen« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Introduce search zones so that the Police have better opportunities to search for weapons”
• theft gangs as a border problem»Sverige har samtidigt blivit hårt drabbat av utländska stöldligor – som plockar på sig bilar, bildelar, båtmotorer och dyra föremål och för dem ut ur landet.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Sweden has at the same time been hard hit by foreign theft gangs – picking up cars, car parts, boat motors and valuable items and taking them out of the country.”

The election manifesto wants to combat the shadow economy and illegal migration with more controls and more deportations and lower thresholds for detention and enforcement of deportations. The counter-proposal instead wants to stop identity checks in border-near areas of people assumed to be foreigners. This directly contradicts the plan's commitment to expanded controls and police tools.

• more controls against the shadow economydecisive»Bekämpa skuggsamhället och illegal migration med fler kontroller och fler utvisningar« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Combat the shadow economy and illegal migration with more controls and more deportations”
• lowered detention thresholds»Trösklarna för att ta i förvar och utvisa personer samt verkställa utvisningar behöver också sänkas.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Thresholds for detention and deporting people as well as enforcing deportations also need to be lowered.”
• the shadow economy as problem»Många har dessutom fått avslag på sin asylansökan men ändå valt att stannat, kunnat ta del av välfärden och bidragit till framväxten av det så kallade skuggsamhället.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Many have moreover been denied asylum but nonetheless chosen to stay, been able to access welfare and contributed to the emergence of the so-called shadow economy.”
• police tools»Ge polisen förutsättningarna för att bekämpa brottslighet« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Give police the conditions to combat crime”