2025-05-072024/25:KU28 · p.3KUConstitution

Indigenous status

Inquiry into indigenous-people status for additional groups in Sweden

What's at stake: Recognition as an indigenous people is a status under international law that today only the Sami hold in Sweden, and for other groups it would mean a formal recognition that could strengthen protection for their language, identity and culture. The decision therefore primarily affects the Tornedalians, Kven and Lantalaiset, but also the broader question of what principles should govern minority status in Sweden.

Case texts and AI reasoning are AI-translated from the Swedish originals; the Swedish text is authoritative.

What the vote decides

The question is whether the government should set up an inquiry into the criteria for national minority status and whether more groups, such as the Tornedalians, Kven and Lantalaiset, should be able to be recognised as an indigenous people, or whether this should wait for the ongoing processing of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's report.

Yes Yes — the committee proposal

The committee sees no reason to take any initiative to investigate indigenous-people or minority status for more groups. The reason is that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for the Tornedalians, Kven and Lantalaiset has already raised that the minority's status needs further investigation, that the Commission's report is being processed within the Government Offices, and that the outcome of that processing should not be pre-empted.

No No — the reservations

Reservation 4 (V, MP)

The reservation (V, MP) calls for the government to set up an inquiry to evaluate the principles for which groups should have status as a national minority, and which would also examine whether more groups, such as the Tornedalians, Kven and Lantalaiset, should be regarded as an indigenous people. The reasoning is that such recognition would be a formal recognition under international law that helps preserve and develop the language, identity and culture of these groups, whose long-standing presence in Sweden is well documented.

Summarised from the committee report. Party labels in the summary come from the report, not from the vote.

V–

S–

MP–

C–

L–

KD–

M–

SD–

YesNoAbstainAbsent

What do the votes mean here?

Yes The committee proposal: rejecting the motions (keeping things as they are).

No Backing the counter-proposal: reservation 4 by V, MP.

Abstain The party marks a position of its own that is not one of the two final alternatives.

The plan's stance / Actual vote

	AI	Vote
Vown reservation	–	No 0/21/0/3
S	–	Yes 93/0/0/13
MPown reservation	–	No 0/16/0/2
C	–	Yes 21/0/0/3
L	–	Yes 14/0/0/2
KD	–	Yes 17/0/0/2
M	–	Yes 60/0/0/8
SD	–	Abstain 0/0/63/9

Committee proposal

Parliament rejects the motions 2024/25:171 by Cecilia Engström and Magnus Oscarsson (both KD), 2024/25:1321 by Jan Riise et al. (MP) motion 1, 2024/25:1421 by Michael Rubbestad et al. (SD) motion 12 and 2024/25:2643 by Leila Ali Elmi et al. (MP) motion 17.

Original (Swedish)

Riksdagen avslår motionerna 2024/25:171 av Cecilia Engström och Magnus Oscarsson (båda KD), 2024/25:1321 av Jan Riise m.fl. (MP) yrkande 1, 2024/25:1421 av Michael Rubbestad m.fl. (SD) yrkande 12 och 2024/25:2643 av Leila Ali Elmi m.fl. (MP) yrkande 17.

Riksdag decision: Parliament rejected about sixty proposals on minority issues in motions submitted during the general motion period 2024. The reason is, among other things, that work is already underway on several of the issues raised by the motions. The proposals concern, for example, indigenous status for Tornedalians, Kvens and Lantalaiset, Sámi policy, Jewish life in Sweden, Romani inclusion and the rights of Swedish Finns to language and culture.

Counter-proposals

The counter-proposal wants Sweden to ratify ILO convention nr 169 on indigenous peoples. (V, MP) — Reservation 4

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Sources and documents

The committee report on riksdagen.se (2024/25:KU28)
Committee report full text (HC01KU28)
Per-MP voting data (API)
Case status (API)

Documents under consideration

Motion 2024/25:1071 — Utredning om älvdalskans status som språk för ett framtida erkännande som landsdelsspråk av Gudrun Brunegård och Mathias Bengtsson (båda KD)
Motion 2024/25:1288 — Teckenspråk av Carita Boulwén (SD)
Motion 2024/25:1321 — Politik för tornedalingar, kväner och lantalaiset av Jan Riise m.fl. (MP)
Motion 2024/25:1421 — Nationella minoriteter och urfolk i Sverige av Michael Rubbestad m.fl. (SD)
Motion 2024/25:171 — Tornedalingar som urfolk av Cecilia Engström och Magnus Oscarsson (båda KD)
Motion 2024/25:1745 — Politik för minoriteter av Jan Riise m.fl. (MP)
Motion 2024/25:1746 — Politik för romer av Jan Riise m.fl. (MP)
Motion 2024/25:1747 — Politik för sverigefinländarna av Jan Riise m.fl. (MP)
Motion 2024/25:1754 — Politik för samer av Jan Riise m.fl. (MP)
Motion 2024/25:1932 — Språk och litteratur av Nooshi Dadgostar m.fl. (V)
Motion 2024/25:1935 — Åtgärder för de nationella minoriteterna och minoritetsspråken av Nooshi Dadgostar m.fl. (V)
Motion 2024/25:2372 — Älvdalska - ett eget språk av Malin Höglund (M)
Motion 2024/25:2643 — En rättvis framtid: strategier för att bekämpa rasism och främja social rättvisa av Leila Ali Elmi m.fl. (MP)
Motion 2024/25:3040 — Judiskt liv i Sverige av Jan Riise m.fl. (MP)
Motion 2024/25:3110 — Utgiftsområde 17 Kultur, medier, trossamfund och fritid av Lawen Redar m.fl. (S)
Motion 2024/25:3159 — Konstitution och demokrati av Malin Björk m.fl. (C)
Motion 2024/25:3193 — Utgiftsområde 1 Rikets styrelse av Ida Karkiainen m.fl. (S)
Motion 2024/25:61 — Åtgärder för att motverka den muslimska antisemitismen av Nima Gholam Ali Pour (SD)

Source: The Swedish Parliament