Ståhej om Migrationsverkets klavertramp

I december skrev jag två bloggposter om Migrationsverket. Den första handlar om Lennart Eriksson, som blev av med sin anställning som enhetschef på Migrationsverket i Kållered, därför att han på sin privata hemsida tar ställning för Israel och har en länk till moderaterna.

Den andra handlar om Birgitta Elfström och hennes man Arne Malmgren. Båda har i många år arbetat på Migrationsverket, och båda har varit djupt involverade i Palestinagrupperna i Sverige, bl a genom att blogga. Birgitta har gått i pension, men Arne har nyligen befordrats (!!). Här är mina tidigare bloggposter i ämnet:

• Migrationsverket sätter gränser
  
• Mer om Birgitta Elfström

Länge har det varit tyst om Lennarts fall, men nu har det lossnat.

Idag skriver Per Gudmundson om det på SvDs ledarblogg, och den kristna tidningen Världen idag har två artiklar i ämnet (artikel 1, artikel 2).

Den 8 februari hade den israeliska tidningen Maariv en artikel, här fritt översatt till engelska av en vän:

Senior employee at Swedish Migration Board demoted after he expressed support for Israel.

By Liran Lotker, Maariv reporter in Stockholm.

It might be difficult to believe, but a senior employee of the Swedish Migration Board discovered that things he wrote on his private website have had a negative effect on his job. Lennart Eriksson was recently demoted from his post and was graded lower on the professional ranking scale after he expressed pro-Israel and pro-American opinions.

Eriksson, 51 years old, has worked at the Swedish Migration Board for 20 years. Since 2002 he has served as a manager of a refugee assessment unit. A couple of months ago he returned from an extended vacation, and immediately upon his arrival he was summoned to a meeting with his immediate superior, Eugene Palmer.

During this discussion my manager explained to me that in his view it is not suitable for a man in a managerial position at the Swedish Migration Board to express his private political views, even if they are expressed outside work,” said Eriksson. “When I asked him since when it is forbidden to express opinions according to the democratic right of freedom in a democratic country, my manager replied that the fact that I express these opinions is problematic. However, the truth is that other employees at the Swedish Migration Board have expressed strong political opinions in favour of Palestinians, yet no any action has ever been against them.”

After this incident, Eriksson was transferred to another post with a lower rank, checking refugee files. He decided to sue the Swedish Migration Board following this unjustified demotion. In his lawsuit he is requesting to return to his previous post, along with monetary compensation for this breach of his democratic rights. “It is simply not reasonable that (my superiors) harm me professionally in a country that is supposed to support freedom of expression and freedom of political opinion,” commented Lennart Eriksson. The Swedish Migration Board declined to provide a response before this article was published.

På nätet har det varit än mer uppmärksamhet. Många bloggar och liknande, både i Sverige och utomlands har tagit upp fallet. Exempelvis Jihad i Malmö och
Tundra Tabloids.

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