Freedom House territory of the origin state in order to influence or control the actions of individuals who are now abroad is a low-cost but effective tactic for silencing dissent.30 It seldom provokes a public outcry but substantially affects people who have found a measure of physical safety in democratic states. Even in cases where family reunification is possible, the Swedish Migration Agency requires that the family members have a passport, which necessitates contact with the origin state embassy. For some, such as Eritreans living in Sweden, obtaining a passport from the embassy entails signing an apology letter to the regime and paying a tax.31 In 2019 Swedish authorities designated them as a persecuted group, meaning Uyghur asylum seekers would no longer have to demonstrate persecution on an individual basis. Approach to sensitive groups Vulnerabilities within the Swedish Migration Agency The day-to-day functioning of the Swedish Migration Agency tends to prioritize efficiency in case management and therefore remains vulnerable to the influence of authoritarian states. Swedish officials use Country of Origin Information (COI) to verify the credibility of individual asylum claims. Information is gathered from open sources, according to the European Asylum Support Office’s methodology. Agency employees who compile these reports are fluent in Arabic, Russian, Spanish, French, German, and Kurdish. However, for other languages, the Swedish Migration Agency enlists contract translators who are uncertified and, with rare exceptions, unvetted. Media reports have documented 49 complaints against interpreters working in asylum cases.32 In 2016, Eritrean interpreters were found to be threatening and attempting to intimidate asylum seekers on behalf of the Eritrean regime.33 Similar complaints have been made about Turkish interpreters. Interviews conducted as part of this research also indicated low levels of concern or awareness among Swedish Migration Agency staff regarding the ongoing threat that home states posed to asylum seekers inside Sweden. For cases in which targeting or harassment was suspected, there were no clear or established methods to elevate these concerns within the agency. While those suspected of committing refugee espionage were referred to SÄPO, victims were not offered any special form of help or protection. Despite the new, generally more restrictive approach to asylum claims, the Swedish Migration Agency recognizes the dangers posed by regimes that are notorious perpetrators of transnational repression, namely those in Eritrea, China, Turkey, and Uzbekistan. In light of the severe danger Uyghurs could face if repatriated to China, in 2019 Swedish authorities designated them as a persecuted group, meaning Uyghur asylum seekers would no longer have to demonstrate persecution on an individual basis. In a legal position paper written by the head of legal affairs at the Swedish Migration Agency, case officers examining individual asylum claims were urged to treat Turkish applications with care. Groups highlighted as potentially vulnerable to state persecution and therefore in need of international protection included human rights activists, accused supporters or members of Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen’s Hizmet movement, and accused supporters or members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a banned Kurdish militant group.34 This is in line with research that has identified the Turkish government as one of the world’s most prolific perpetrators of transnational repression, responsible for kidnapping, rendering, and extraditing hundreds of suspected Gülen supporters.35 In a different position paper on Uzbekistan, the agency’s head of legal affairs warned that opposition activists and critical journalists may be at risk of persecution.36 The paper also stated that all Uzbekistan nationals who have applied for asylum abroad may be endangered if returned to Uzbekistan—a clear recognition of the fact that perpetrators of transnational repression regard the act of seeking safety in another country as a sign of disloyalty and cause for punishment. freedomhouse.org 7