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The Granskningsnämnden (Broadcasting Review Board) criticises SVT Rapport after a reporter used the term «illegal migrants» about migrants who had crossed the English Channel unlawfully.
The Board considered the wording to be both «misleading» and «condemnatory», writes Fria Tider.
In a report broadcast on 21 September 2025, the reporter said:
– So far this year, a record number of illegal immigrants have crossed the English Channel to the United Kingdom, where asylum seekers are, inter alia, being accommodated in hotels.
A complainant considered that the wording gave an erroneous impression of the persons concerned and associated them with criminality. In practice, these boat migrants have indeed committed a criminal act, since it constitutes a breach of British law to enter the country in this manner.
This does not concern persons fleeing from real war zones, since virtually all arrive in small boats from France, which is not currently regarded as being in a war situation.
Skolejente som ble overfalt av innvandrer i Epping, føler seg «sårbar» i skjørt
SVT referred to the fact that the manner of entry may, under British law, be classified as illegal migration, particularly after the British introduced the Illegal Migration Act 2023.
The Granskningsnämnden shows no leniency and states that it is of no relevance which terminology the British state employs:
«Regardless of whether the phenomenon is described as above, the complaints board considers that this does not legitimise the use of the term “illegal immigrant” about persons who arrive in the country in this manner.»
In the decision, which appears as today’s Swedish joke, the Board establishes that describing «illegal migrants» as precisely illegal migrants is «both misleading in contravention of the requirement of objectivity and evaluative in contravention of the requirement of impartiality».
Two members of the Granskningsnämnden dissented and considered that SVT ought to be acquitted.