STOCKHOLM, Sweden – When two Kurdish refugees in Sweden refused to cooperate with the country’s security service (Sapo) to inform on fellow Kurds and Kurdish organizations, they soon found that saying ‘no’ was not an option.
The pair, identified as Adam and Matin, this month told their stories of harassment, repeated interrogations and threats of deportation on the Sweden’s state radio.
They told audiences that the security police had threatened to revoke their refugee status if they did not comply with their demands, and that they were unlawfully summoned numerous times for interrogation.
The Kurds told the radio that they were watched round-the-clock. “They knew everything about us, even normal conversations with our friends,” one of the Kurds told the radio.
Jan Giolio, a detective-turned-journalist who was a former Sapo agent, said that the security agency’s interest in recruiting Sweden-based Kurdish agents began in the 1980s. “Lately, the agency has increased its resources to find Kurdish agents,” he added.
Giolio said that for Sapo, the Kurd’s wide political struggle is seek considered s security concern, and is even considered a danger to national security.
“The police have always tried to recruit agents among the political activists in order to spy on their own,” he added.
The state radio report, which drew a great deal of attention from rights organizations and the European media, stressed that the security police have been targeting those Kurds who openly conduct political activities.
It said that the service places mounting psychological pressure, such as withdrawing asylum status for those who refuse to work for them. As a result, some immigrants are forced to leave the country.
Adam and Matin said that they were forced to quit their political activities due to mounting pressure.
Fredrick Nelson, a spokesman for Sapo, dismissed the allegations by the Kurdish activists. “Sapo doesn’t interfere in personal lives nor does it pressure anyone,” he claimed.
The security services also released a statement rejecting the allegations.
“We don’t have any direct interference in the lives of those who immigrate to Sweden. This matter is only related to the immigration department,” the statement read, “Sapo only interferes when someone is a suspect of terrorism.”
However, Giolio argued that some Kurds who take refuge in Sweden are ready to expose sensitive information about their political parties in order to pursue their refugee claim. As a result, they become of interest to Sapo.
“When Sapo finds out that an asylum seeker has information about the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), it gives him two options: deportation or cooperation,” Giolio explained.
He said that some people break under the pressure while others choose to leave the country.
Two members of the PKK, named Atta Anwar and Gungur, were killed in 1984 in Uppsala, Sweden after surrendering information about the PKK to the security police.
Giolio alleged that Sapo was the reason why the two were killed. “This is one of the examples of pressure: you either work for us or you would be deported back to Turkey, where you spend the rest of your life in prison,” he said.
According to Giolio, there is coordination between the Turkish intelligence agency MIT and Sapo. “Sapo’s protocol indicates that the agency should coordinate with the other countries in order to eradicate terrorism,” he said.
“Sapo now uses more than half of its resources to surveillance against Islamic extremists in Sweden, something it originally started with the Kurds,” he added.
