The Swedish government announced this week that it plans to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 13-years-old as it seeks to confront the rampant use of youths by criminal gangs.
At a press conference on Monday, representatives of the governing Tidö coalition government said that the criminal age of responsibility for the most serious crimes, such as murder and attempted murder, will be gradually lowered over the next five years to 13, Aftonbladet reported.
They said the change would affect crimes with a minimum prison sentence of four years, as well as attempts or conspiracies to commit such crimes.
The planned legislation from the governing parties would also eliminate the lighter sentencing requirements for people aged 18 to 20 years old and increase the maximum sentence for minors from 14 to 18 years in prison.
It comes in response to the growing issue of criminal networks recruiting young teenagers, often from impoverished minority and migrant communities, as those under 18 face less imprisonment than adults. As long ago as 2015, Swedish police told Breitbart News how mass migration was transforming the crime picture in the country, with migrant criminal gangs importing a whole new type of lawlessness into what had once been a relatively peaceful corner of Europe.
The issue has become so rampant that gang-affiliated teenagers in Sweden are regularly contracted out as mercenaries to networks in neighbouring countries like Denmark, where they serve as hitmen or other criminal-for-hire activities.
The proposed change in the age of criminal responsibility has drawn some criticism within the country, with some arguing that imprisoning children may serve to increase the likelihood they remain criminals.
However, Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer said that the changes are necessary given the widespread proliferation of youth gang violence.
“One of our absolutely crucial tasks is to put a stop to the gangs’ use of children and young people,” Strömmer said per SVT. “We have an urgent situation, and the measures we take must reflect the problems we have.”
The proliferation of gang violence in Sweden, which is often conducted by kingpins in the Middle East, came in the wake of large-scale demographic change as a result of the open borders policies of the previous Social Democrat government, which resulted in one in five people living in Sweden being foreign-born.
The centre-right coalition government of Ulf Kristersson has sought to reverse course, with Sweden recording net negative immigration for the first time in decades in 2024. The government is also set to make it more difficult to become a citizen, including by requiring eight years of residency rather than five and income requirements.
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