the swedish migration agency 80 The Swedish Migration Agency The Swedish Migration Agency is tasked with, inter alia, operating detention centres where foreigners can be placed pending enforcement of a decision on expulsion or deportation from Sweden.1 Foreigners may also be detained if necessary to investigate a foreigner’s identity. A detention decision may be made by the Swedish Migration Agency, Police Authority, Security Police and migration courts.2 At the end of 2019, the Swedish Migration Agency had six detention centres with 528 places. In September 2019, the OPCAT Unit carried out an unannounced inspection of the detention centre in Ljungbyhed. The detention centre was put into use in May 2019. The inspection was carried out on behalf of Chief Parliamentary Ombudsman Elisabeth Rynning. Parliamentary Ombudsman Per Lennerbrant made a statement following the inspection. 7.1 Observations made during this year’s inspection All of the reported observations took place in connection with the inspection of the detention centre in Ljungbyhed.3 The detention centre’s physical environment The detention centre is housed in a former fire station and has 44 places. During the inspection, it was noted that the detention centre’s two residential units lack their own common areas. The only space in the units that can be described as a common area is a dining room. However, this only has seating for approximately half of the detainees who may reside in the unit. The detention centre has a larger common area that is separate from the residential units, which the individuals detained have access to for one hour per day. The detainees are able to smoke on six occasions daily and spend one hour in the detention centre’s exercise yard. In conversations with the Parliamentary Ombudsmen’s employees, several staff members stated that there were too many detainees staying in the detention centre’s relatively limited space. The detainees do not have the opportunity to retreat to a calmer environment. The lack of common areas also makes it difficult for the staff to have meaningful contact with the detainees. The limited times for smoking meant that detainees smoked indoors and 1 See Chapter 3, Section 4 of the Ordinance with Instructions for the Swedish Migration Agency (2019: 502). 2 See Chapter 10, Sections 12–17 of the Aliens Act (2005: 716). 3 See the Parliamentary Ombudsmen’s report, ref. no. O 52-2019.