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SVERIGEFAKTA
2015–2016·The Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket) and municipalities

Married children were placed with adult spouses in the asylum reception system

Settled/established
What happened
During the 2015 reception, a large number of children (under 18) were registered as married to adult spouses. In several cases the children were placed with the spouse without an individual assessment. The Migration Agency's procedure at the time was based on the main rule that marriages entered into abroad were recognised.
Who reviewed
The Health and Social Care Inspectorate (IVO), the Parliamentary Ombudsmen (JO) and the legislator
Criticism
The criticism concerned that the procedure then in force did not sufficiently take the best interests of the child and the Convention on the Rights of the Child into account: placement with an adult spouse was not always assessed individually, and protection against continued exploitation was inadequate.
Outcome
The Migration Agency and SKR issued new guidance from 2016: as a main rule, children are to be placed separately from an adult spouse. The law was changed in 2018 so that foreign child marriages are as a main rule no longer recognised in Sweden, and in 2020 a specific child marriage offence was introduced.
Agency's own reply
The Migration Agency has stated that its procedures were rewritten during 2016 and that the agency has followed the tightened legislation since then. The municipalities refer to the updated guidance from the National Board of Health and Welfare and SKR.

Sources

Primary sourceSOU 2017:96 — Utvidgat hinder mot erkännande av utländska barnäktenskap (2017-12-06)JO — beslut om Migrationsverkets rutiner för gifta barn (sök diarienummer via jo.se/sv/beslut)Prop. 2017/18:288 — Förbud mot erkännande av utländska barnäktenskapProp. 2020/21:149 — Ett särskilt straffansvar för barnäktenskapsbrott (skärpning 2020)

Updated 2026-07-08

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SVERIGEFAKTA. (2026). SVERIGEFAKTA. Retrieved 2026-10-02, from https://sverigefakta.com/en/agency-oversight/migrationsverket-barngifte-2016
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SVERIGEFAKTA, "SVERIGEFAKTA", https://sverigefakta.com/en/agency-oversight/migrationsverket-barngifte-2016 (accessed 2026-10-02).
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@misc{sverigefakta_2026_en_agencyoversight_migrationsverketbarngifte2016,
  author       = {SVERIGEFAKTA},
  title        = {SVERIGEFAKTA},
  year         = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://sverigefakta.com/en/agency-oversight/migrationsverket-barngifte-2016}},
  note         = {Dataset v2026.2, accessed 2026-10-02}
}
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