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For decades, there have been warning signs and alarms about children being sent on parenting trips.
The problem has been known to authorities and politicians – but despite this, children continue to be sent abroad.
And only half of them return home.
Every year, Swedish children are taken out of the country on so-called educational trips. Last year twelve people were sent and only five of them came back to Sweden. This is shown by figures from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that Aftonbladet has seen.
Despite repeated alarms and warning signals, children continue to be sent abroad.
It wasn’t until 2018 that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs began compiling statistics on cases of family-related coercion that include child-rearing trips.
In the past five years, 87 people have been sent on educational trips and 46 of them, just over half, have returned. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has no information about what has happened to the remaining persons.
70 percent of the cases concern boys or men. The countries that stand out with the highest number of cases are Somalia and Kenya. Most of the people who are sent are aged 15-20, according to the Foreign Ministry.
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Warned 20 years ago
The phenomenon of educational trips is nothing new and was raised at a political level already 20 years ago.
In 2004, the National Board of Health and Welfare was also commissioned to look into the issue.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs writes in an email that matters are complex and sensitive. The possibility to help in individual cases is limited. It depends, among other things, on the conditions and legislation in the country in which the person is located.
“Given the sensitivity of the cases, we cannot go into details about how we work with these cases. Ultimately, this is about care for the individual. But in general, you can say that part of the work is about trying to establish direct contact with the person, provided that there is a safe contact route.”
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fullscreen”I think it is serious that children abroad, who were originally born and raised in Sweden, have been forced to leave our country against their own will,” says Foreign Minister Tobias Billström. Photo: Lotte Fernvall
“Takes their feelings very seriously”
But despite this, many remain abroad. Something the government takes seriously.
– Just like everyone who hears this type of story, you are naturally gripped by powerlessness, you feel that this is something very serious, that children can actually end up in a situation where they are completely separated from their family. But often on the family’s initiative, says Foreign Minister Tobias Billström (M).
The issue of the educational trips has been known for many years, but still the children continue to be sent abroad. How do you see it?
– The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is only responsible for that part of the problem once the children have left Sweden. But the important thing for me as foreign minister is to point out what we are now preparing in the government office, says Tobias Billström.
According to Billström, the government is now working on the issue in different ways. Among other things, there will be a new bill that is at the Ministry of Social Affairs. More concretely, it is about extending the travel ban.
Aftonbladet has spoken to several Swedish children who have been taken abroad. They have expressed disappointment that Sweden is not doing enough for them to come back. What do you think about it?
– I naturally take their feelings very seriously and I think it is serious that children abroad, who were originally born and raised in Sweden, have been forced to leave our country against their own will to be sent for indoctrination in other countries, he says and continues :
– The only way to deal with that in the long term is to deal with the issue through legislation. Then, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ side, we can have intensive contacts with other countries. But it is problematic that once the children have left Sweden, states are not always cooperative or that family and relatives in Sweden are cooperative.
Only half of the children come home, is that good enough?
– I would say that the big problem is that children in general leave Sweden against their own will, then the question is where to set the bar.