The Angiveri Act is unacceptable

One of the most high-profile points of the Tidö Agreement advocates that municipalities and authorities should be obliged to report to the police and the Swedish Migration Agency when they come into contact with undocumented migrants. Since the Tidö Agreement was announced, opposition to the so-called 'informer law' has only grown. From sharply critical debate articles signed by all trade unions within Saco, to widespread grassroots initiatives centered around refusing to report, large parts of the professional groups that the reporting obligation is planned to cover have risen up in protest. 

Uppsala Student Union represent a large group of students whose future professional practice will be affected if the reporting obligation becomes law. The proposal to introduce such a duty therefore fills us with both concern and anger. Health care and education are fundamental rights that cannot be taken away from anyone - regardless of citizenship, residence permit or asylum status. The mere fear of being reported and deported already deprives many people of their basic right to healthcare and many children of their right to education. The effective introduction of an informant law forcing health and education professionals to report undocumented migrants would therefore be a disaster.

We are also concerned that the introduction of a whistleblower law will have a negative impact on the supply of skills for socially responsible professions. Students seek out educational, caring and people-oriented professions based on a desire to help and benefit others. The prospect of becoming a cog in an informer society risks scaring away empathetic and principled people from the education that needs them most. Such a development would extend the consequences of the Espionage Act beyond the human rights violation it fundamentally represents.

Within Uppsala Student Union , the students at risk of being covered by the whistleblowing law are represented by the Humanities Section, the Medical Section, the Social Sciences Section and the Teaching Section. They comment on the potential consequences of the law as follows:

The Anti-Discrimination Act is a threat to humanity. As humanists, we are constantly working to understand society and all the people who live in it, and how we can coexist and find community in our differences. No librarian, nurse, teacher or other public sector worker should have to choose between humanity and lawfulness, they should go hand in hand.

Elsa Ewert
President, Humanities Section
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There is something disturbing about the way in which the denunciation law violates everything we medical students are taught. We dedicate our studies to the idea of the right of all people to good health. Our courses ask us to reflect on health care and health from an ethical perspective. All this because we are now promptly taught that health has been given a citizenship; a citizenship that is not available to those who need care the most. 

I believe that this will not only discourage our students from choosing a career in healthcare, but will also lead to more people already working in healthcare changing careers.

Ernst Bergman
Chairman, Medical Section
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‍Social science studentsare a constructive civil force. We train to safeguard, nurture and develop individuals and society. The Angiveri Act is the antithesis of the constructive endeavor of the social science student.

Lies Youcefi
Chair, Social Sciences Section
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What reasons are left to train as teachers if trust and respect for the profession is eroded? We student teachers do not train for money or summer vacations but because we follow our passion. The Angiveri Act transforms teachers into supervisors, which in turn damages the compensatory mission of supporting all students and thus the drive we student teachers are motivated by.

Adrian Lörstad
Vice President, Learning Section
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On behalf of the Uppsala Student Union, Vice President Linnea Rydén makes the following comment:

As a student union, we will never support a law that forces our students to go against everything they have learned during their education the day after graduation. The obligation to report is contrary to professional ethics - which itself plays a central role in both education and professional life.

The students we represent dedicate years of their lives to education, in order to contribute to the public good through their work. It is not part of our curricula to learn how to refer future students, patients and clients. And for the sake of all our futures - let it stay that way.

Linnea Rydén
Vice President, Uppsala Student Union
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Uppsala Student Union joins the many voices protesting against mandatory reporting. We call on all students to do the same and join the large group that has pledged never to report undocumented migrants as part of their professional practice. Politicians who want to push for an informer society need to know that such a development will not be accepted by the librarians, nurses, social workers, teachers, psychologists, physiotherapists and doctors of today or tomorrow.

#viangerinte