Stockholm, Sweden – A new investigation by Sweden’s public broadcaster, Sveriges Radio’s Ekot, has revealed that Swedish development aid intended for Somalia was allegedly redirected to projects near the Somali Prime Minister’s office as part of a political trade-off to facilitate the forced return of Somali migrants from Sweden.
According to the report, Swedish officials reportedly agreed to concentrate aid funding in areas surrounding the Office of the Prime Minister in Mogadishu in exchange for the Somali government’s cooperation in accepting deported citizens who had been denied asylum.
If confirmed, the arrangement would raise serious ethical and legal concerns regarding the use of development assistance as leverage in migration policy — a practice widely condemned by humanitarian organizations and international aid watchdogs.
Sweden has long been one of Somalia’s largest bilateral donors, providing hundreds of millions of dollars in support for governance reforms, public services, infrastructure, and resilience programmes. However, Ekot’s investigation suggests that portions of this aid were repurposed in a way that directly served Sweden’s domestic political agenda on migration.
Neither the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) nor Somalia’s Office of the Prime Minister has yet issued a detailed response to the allegations. Swedish opposition politicians have already called for parliamentary scrutiny, demanding clarity on whether aid conditionality was imposed behind closed doors.
If proven, the case could become one of the most high-profile examples of European governments blurring the line between humanitarian assistance and migration enforcement — a growing trend across the EU as member states struggle to manage returns of rejected asylum seekers.
Somali civil society organizations have expressed concern that such deals undermine public trust in foreign aid and risk politicizing development funds meant for vulnerable communities. Rights groups have further warned that forcibly deported individuals often face insecurity upon return due to persistent conflict and lack of reintegration support.
The revelations are expected to prompt broader debate in both Stockholm and Mogadishu on the transparency of aid allocations, the ethics of migration diplomacy, and whether development cooperation is being weaponized for political gain.