Sunday, July 13, 2025

Polaris of Enlightenment

Stockholm construction industry infiltrated by criminals

Published 28 March 2024
– By Editorial Staff
The construction workers in the picture have nothing to do with the article.
3 minute read

Stockholm’s construction industry faces an uphill battle against rogue companies and a growing wave of criminal activity. Everything from human exploitation to undeclared work and money laundering plague the industry. The problems are widespread and continue on a large scale despite strict official regulations and monitoring.

Since Sweden joined the EU in the 1990s, and the much-vaunted free movement of people was introduced, the Swedish construction industry has had to wage an increasingly intense battle against rogue and, in many cases, outright criminal actors.

In 2023, nearly 300 cases ranging from low wages to dirty human exploitation were reported to the Fair Play Bygg whistleblower service in the Stockholm area alone. However, the number of unreported cases is estimated to be high and to occur throughout the country.

Scams involving illegal immigrants

Several of the reports have been forwarded to the relevant authorities, such as the police, the Swedish Economic Crime Authority and the Swedish Tax Agency.

One of the cases shows how illegal workers are forced to perform dangerous tasks for a wage of only SEK 45 per hour. In this case, there is an accountant who is not only a partner in the company, but is also linked to several other construction companies with large tax debts.

Another revelation shows fraud with ID06 cards. A reported company has more active ID06 cards than actual employees. According to the report, employees are forced to withdraw their wages in cash and return most of it to the company. The money is then used to pay both undocumented and illegal workers.

A third report describes how workers were evicted from their homes after demanding their wages. These homes are also owned by the company. The company has also avoided paying employer contributions and taxes, which is common among the more rogue players in the sector.

ID06 card fraud is a major problem in the construction industry. Photo: id06.se

People on sick leave are exploited

Several companies have established a practice of exploiting state activity support. A number of companies deliberately break the rules by forcing workers on sick leave to do heavy and stressful work. These jobs are rarely long-term, as workers are often dismissed and quickly replaced by new ones who depend on the subsidy to survive.

Companies exploiting construction workers on sick leave to do heavy work under the guise of activity support are only part of the large-scale criminal activity. Tomas Kullberg, president of workers’ organization Byggnads Stockholm-Gotland and spokesman for Fair Play Bygg, describes the grim situation.

– We have seen the emergence of a shadow society where large amounts of tax money disappear from the public welfare system and where foreign workers are exploited, says Tomas Kullberg.

Millions of dollars recovered

Fair Play Bygg’s work has led to companies being forced to pay millions in unpaid taxes, but the problems continue to grow. While housing construction in Stockholm halved in 2023, crime in the industry also changed.

Defrauding government wage guarantees has also become more common, with rogue actors exploiting the system for their own gain. Kristin Andersson, CEO of the Swedish Construction Association.

– Fair Play Bygg’s work has resulted in tax increases of SEK 124 million, which we are proud of. But now it is time to take swift action against bad actors and promote healthy competition in the construction industry.

Byggnads wants to stop fraud

To combat the epidemic of corruption and crime, Byggnads has launched the Swedish Construction Control project.

The project aims to stop fraud and crime in the workplace by reporting suspicious activities to the authorities and trying to remove rogue companies from the workplace.

– It’s been a hard job of recruitment and it feels really good to have everything in place. The goal is simple: criminal companies should not bother to enter our industry. The serious companies will survive and grow, says Johan Lindholm, chairman of Byggnads.

The head of Svensk Byggkontroll will be Peter Sjöstrand, the former secretary of the agreement and deputy chairman of Målarna.

– This has all the potential to be a real game changer in the industry. I am very much looking forward to leading the work for a healthier construction industry.

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Swedish climate extremists who blocked ambulance acquitted by Supreme Court

The exaggerated climate crisis

Published 11 July 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Police remove the road blockade in August 2022.
2 minute read

A nearly three-year legal process concluded this week when all activists from Restore Wetlands (Återställ Våtmarker) were acquitted for blocking the E4 motorway in August 2022, which in addition to causing long traffic jams also delayed an ambulance on an emergency call.

According to Sweden’s Supreme Court (Högsta domstolen), the road blockade was not comparable to the threats against vital societal interests required by law for a conviction of sabotage, and therefore acquitted all participants in the climate alarmist group’s action. The Supreme Court particularly emphasized the importance of freedom of demonstration and freedom of expression in a ruling that will serve as guidance for how civil disobedience should be punished, which in practice opens the door for more motorway blockades.

The legal situation has been unclear regarding what constitutes a serious disruption or obstruction in these cases. It’s good that we now have clear guidance from the Supreme Court on how prosecutions for sabotage should be assessed in the future, says Chief Prosecutor Katarina Johansson Welin in the Supreme Court’s press release.

The group itself describes its action as an “act of love”.

Victory! Today we celebrate that the sabotage charge has been shot down for the last time. In my heart, I have always known that I acted exactly right. To sit peacefully and openly on a motorway and demand that emissions decrease is among the strongest acts of love for our children and for life that you can do, and we did exactly that, says one of those acquitted in the climate group’s press release.

Green Party economist: Good that fewer children are born in Sweden

The exaggerated climate crisis

Published 11 July 2025
– By Editorial Staff
The Green Party politician Lennart Olsen sees children as an unnecessary burden on the economy and the environment.
2 minute read

That fewer children are born in Sweden is only good for the environment, argues Green Party (Miljöpartiet) politician Lennart Olsen. Children and young people also cost more than older people, who can still work at higher ages if the pension age is raised, he adds.

Olsen writes in a debate article in the Bonnier publication Dagens Nyheter that people should view positively the fact that Swedes are not reproducing themselves.

“What’s needed here is a reversed perspective, where lower birth rates and eventually decreasing population should be welcomed to reduce the exploitation of the earth’s ecosystems“.

The Green Party member believes that the Swedish government’s investigation aimed at proposing measures to raise the very low birth rates in Sweden is “misguided”. He argues that the state can save money from fewer children being born.

“For the state’s and municipal sector’s economy, children and young people are a much greater expense than the elderly. This is because virtually all people between 0 and 20 years old cost a lot of money in the form of preschool, school, higher education, parental insurance, child allowance and more“, Olsen explains his thesis and argues that older people also won’t need as much pension if the retirement age is raised further.

Above all, the Green Party economist sees the possibility that fewer Swedish children will lead to a better climate in the long term.

“The positive effects of such a development can then also take effect and lead to reduced pressure on the earth’s ecosystems“, writes Olsen.

Olsen represents a so-called neo-Malthusian line, an ideological movement that strives for reduced population and strongly influences the climate alarmist movement.

Sweden’s Christian Democrats call for tax relief for families with children

Published 10 July 2025
– By Editorial Staff
1 minute read

Swedish families with children should receive tax relief, according to the same model as Hungary. This is proposed by Christian Democrat leader Ebba Busch.

The catastrophically low birth rate has recently become a topic of discussion even among Swedish politicians. Childbirth in Sweden is at historically low levels. During 2023, an average of 1.43 children were born per woman – the lowest figure ever recorded. The standing solution advocated among Swedish politicians has been to bring foreigners to Sweden to replace the population.

The leader of the Christian Democrats Ebba Busch proposes on this theme to follow the Hungarian model, where families with children receive significant tax relief that increases for each child. The principle is to make it easier for one or later both parents to support themselves through work instead of benefits.

If current birth rate trends continue in Sweden, each new generation will be approximately 30 percent smaller than the previous one, which means major consequences including for the labor market and welfare system when fewer people of working age must support a growing elderly population.

 

Almost total halt for imported berry pickers in Sweden

Published 8 July 2025
– By Editorial Staff
2 minute read

The Swedish Migration Agency has rejected almost all applications for berry pickers for 2025. As recently as 2023, 5,000 permits were granted.

Citing years of indications that employment conditions in the berry industry are not being upheld, the Migration Agency has granted only 89 permits for berry picking this year. A total of 2,397 applications for berry pickers have been received for 2025.

Last year, the Migration Agency rejected all applications for berry pickers, but 1,272 applications were subsequently approved after court review.

The Migration Agency has also this year assessed that workers in the berry industry risk not having their employment conditions met. Therefore, the agency has decided to reject most of the applications for Thai berry pickers, says Hanna Geurtsen, Deputy Project Manager for Work Permits at the Migration Agency, in a press release.

This year, the Migration Agency explains, all employers active in berry picking have chosen to apply for permits via the EU’s Seasonal Workers Directive. The difference when applying for a work permit as a seasonal worker, compared with the national main track for work permits, is among other things that the berry pickers this year are directly employed by a company in Sweden and not via a foreign staffing agency.

It’s partly about having an employment contract signed by both parties and that the employment conditions must be in line with Swedish collective agreements. For the majority of the applications received this year, these requirements have not been met, says Hanna Geurtsen.

The berry companies that have been rejected have the possibility to appeal these decisions in court, the agency adds in its press release.

Number of berry picking permits granted by the Migration Agency in recent years:

2025: 89
2024: 0 (1,272 were approved after court review)
2023: 5,372
2022: 6,594
2021: 5,175

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